V 



VOYAGE 



TO THE 



EASTERN SEAS, 

IN THE YEAR 1816. JS?*-** 2) J^f 



INCLUDING AN 



ACCOUNT OF CAPTAIN MAX WELL'S ATTACK 



ON THE BATTERIES AT CANTON ; 



A'OTES OF AN INTERVIEW 



BONAPARTE AT ST. HELENA. 



IN AUGUST, 1817, 



v \ 



BY CAPTAIN BASIL HALL, HpYAL NAVY, F. R. g. 



— * 

NEW-YORK; 



hi \J> <x 



Gf. & e. CABVILL, 108 BROADWAY, 
J 827. 



SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, u. 
Ee it remembered, that on the 27th day of December, 
A. D. 1827, in the fifty-second year of the Independence o: 
the* United States of America, G. & C. Carvill, of tlie said 
district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the 
right|whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words fol* 
lowing, to wit : 

" Voyage to the Eastern Seas, in the year 1816. Inclu- 
ding an Account of Captain Maxwell's Attack on the Bat- 
teries at Canton ; and Notes of an Interview with Bonaparte 
at St Heiena, in August, 1817. By Captain Basil Hall, 
Royal Navy, F. R. S." 

In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, 
entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by 
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors 
and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein men- 
tioned ;" and also, to an Act, entitled, " An Act, supple- 
mentary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement 
of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and 
books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during 
the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits 
thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching 
historical and other prints." 

FRED. I. BETTS, 

Clerk of the Southern District of JVew-Yorl' . 



3Bttf 



61eigIft-& Gew§e-, Priiitrf^ainaica, L, T~ 

4j % f \ 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The following little work was written chiefly 
for the use of young people in England : 
but I was not without hopes that it might 
find favour with the rising generation in 
America; and a personal acquaintance with 
many of that interesting class of readers, 
having much increased my desire to contri- 
bute to the amusement of my young friends 
in this country, I have revised the present 
edition, at the request of Messrs. G. & C. 
Carvill, for republication in this city. 

It is right to mention that a part of this 
volume appeared ten years ago, under the 
title of a Voyage to Loo Choo ; but that 
the two first chapters, which treat of Java 
and the coast of the Yellow Sea, as well 
as the two last, which relate to Bonaparte 



ADVERTISEMENT . 

and to Sir Murray Maxwell's attack on the 
Chinese Batteries, are entirely new. 

BASIL HALL. 
New- York, Nov. 18, 1827. 



Should this volume meet with liberal en- 
couragement, the publishers intend to put to 
press, Travels in South America and other 
works, by the same author. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. Page 
Passage from England to the Straits of Sunda 
— Anjeer Point in Java — Malay Games by 
moonlight, . . . . . .11 

CHAPTER IL 

Proceed to China — Watering Place at Hong 
Kong— Yellow Sea — Pei Ho, or Pekin 
River — Adventures at the Harbour of Oei- 
Hai-Oi, . . . . . .30 

CHAPTER III. 
Arrival on the coast of Corea — Sir James 
Hall's Group — Examine Hutton's Island — 
One of the Corean Archipelago — Unsocia- 
ble character of these Islanders, . . 64 

CHAPTER IV. 

Visit a shallow Harbour on the main land of 
Corea — Interview with a venerable chief — 
His reception and behaviour on board the 
ships — Pertinacity with which the inhabit- 
ants resist the entrance of strangers — Ad- 
ventures among the Amherst Isles — Leave 
Corea, ...... 85 

CHAPTER V. 
Leave the Corean Archipelago — Attempt to 
land on Sulphur Island — Arrival at Loo- 
Choo— Interviews with the native chiefs, . 126 
1 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER VI. 

Feast given by the Loo-Choo chiefs— Coral 
reefs — Intercourse with the natives, . 169 

CHAPTER VII. 

Examination of the coast of the great Loo- 
Choo Island, by the Lyra — Discovery of 
Port Melville — Adventures among the na- 
tives at the north end of the Island, . 218 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Progress of our acquaintance with the natives 
— Maddra — Dinner given to the chiefs — , 
The prince of Loo-Choo's visit to Captain 
Maxwell— Entertainment given by the chiefs 
to Captain Maxwell — List of articles sup- 
plied to the ships by the government of Loo- 
Choo — Parting scene — Leave the Island, . 230 

CHAPTER IX. 
Captain Maxwell's attack on the batteries at 
Canton, on the 1 2th of November, 1816, .278 

CHAPTER X. 
Interview with Napoleon Bonaparte at St. 
Helena, in August, 1817, . . .312 



VOYAGE 

TO 

THE EASTERN SEAS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PASSAGE FROM ENGLAND TO THE STRAITS OP SUN- 
DA- — AN JEER POINT IN JAVA— MALAY GAMES BY 
MOONLIGHT. 

The Embassy to China under the Right Honour- 
able Lord Amherst sailed from England on the 
9th of February, 1816, in his Majesty ? s ship Al- 
ceste, Captain Murray Maxwell, accompanied by 
the General Hewitt, Indiaman, and the Lyra a 
ten-gun brig under my command. The Indiaman 
carried stores and provisions for the ships of war, 
and various presents intended for the Emperor of 
China. 

During the early part of the voyage little oc- 
curred that was new, or peculiarly interesting, and 
on the 18th of February, the squadron reached 
Madeira, but did not anchor. On the 16th of 
March, after crossing the Equator, and reaching 
the tenth degree of south latitude, which seamen 
call thp heart of the trade- wind, the Alceste bore 
up a*!d proceeded to Rio de Janeiro, leaving the 
General Hewitt and the Lyra to make the best of 
their way to the Cape, with orders to lay in pro- 



JAVA, 



visions and water. The Aleeste, after staying ten 
days at Rio, was still enabled to rejoin her consorts 
at the Cape by the middle of April, having run a 
distance of more than three thousand miles in 
nineteen days. 

On the 26th of that month, the Lyra received 
orders to go forward with despatches to the go- 
vernor of Java, accompanied, as before, by the 
General Hewitt. The early part of this passage 
was veiy boisterous, and the ships separated in one 
of the hard north-west gales of wind which blow 
so frequently in this latitude. Better weather 
might have been obtained by keeping nearly in the 
latitude of the Cape ; but it is essential to the suc- 
cess of a passage from thence to Java, or to any 
part of India, to run to the southward as far some- 
times as 40 degrees, in which parallel the wind 
blows almost invariably from the westward, all 
round the globe. The requisite quantity of east- 
ing is thus easily gained, although at the expense 
of some discomfort, for the weather is generally 
tempestuous. This point once accomplished, the 
ship's head may be turned to the northward, and 
all sail made to reach the south-east trade, 
which, now that the ship has gone so far to the 
eastward, proves a fair wind ; whereas, had its 
limits been approached sooner, it would have been 
directly unfavourable. On a knowledge of these 
particulars, the success of eastern navigation es- 
sentially depends ; for such is the regularity of 
these phenomena, and so rigorously obedient to 
known laws, that an experienced navigator can 
calculate, with tolerable certainty, if he sails at a 
proper time of the year, upon having fair winds all 
*he way from Madeira to Canton. To sailors ac- 



JAVA. 



13 



customed only to the confined navigation of the 
Atlantic, or the Mediterranean, these bold stretch- 
es seem, at first sight, an unreasonable prolonga- 
tion of the voyage ; and it does in fact require 
considerable resolution to steer almost directly 
away from the port, for many hundreds of miles ? 
in search of a wind. In consequence of neglect- 
ing such precautions, a stranger, impatient to reach 
his point, is often tempted to turn too soon towards 
the north, before enough easting has been run 
down, and accordingly, when he enters the Trades, 
which he will do before he reaches the tropic of 
Capricorn, he finds the wind what seamen em- 
phatically term scant, and cannot steer his course. 
In this predicament, there is no resource but to go 
back again to those higher latitudes where westerly 
winds prevail, to complete what a more experien- 
ced person would have secured in the first ia« 
stance. 

In the present voyage I had no excuse for any 
such error, having repeatedly gone over the same 
ground ; but we were, nevertheless, extremely 
near missing the point ; for, on reaching the south- 
ern edge of the trade-wind, we could just lie up, 
as it is called, for the Straits of Sunda, and fifty 
miles less easting would have cost us a return- 
voyage perhaps of a fortnight to repair this fault* 
On the 5th of June, however, at daybreak, the 
magnificent promontory called Java-head, came 
in sight, a land-mark well known to eastern navi- 
gators, as pointing out the principal entrance to 
the China seas from the Indian ocean. Like most 
of the scenery near the Equinoctial line, it is load- 
ed with luxuriant foliage, from the water's edge to 
the very summit y and offers to the eye a richness 
2 



14 JAVA. 

and variety of tint unknown in regions less remote 
from the Pole. This sight, and the delightful cli- 
mate were grateful beyond description ; for during 
the six weeks since we had lost sight of land, our 
course had been over a very rough sea, in cold 
tempestuous weather ; so that on entering these 
beautiful straits, w 7 here every mile in advance 
brought us successively in sight of some one or 
other of the numerous islands which adorn this 
fairy region, or opened some new range or peak of 
the great Islands of Java and Sumatra, we thought 
the eye could never tire of admiring the prospect. 

In the afternoon, the sea breeze gradually died 
away, and we came to an anchor in Mew Bay, a 
snug little cove, nearly surrounded by thickly- 
wooded cliffs, over which tumbled, very oppor- 
tunely for us, a fine cascade of clear water, gush- 
ing from a deep channel cut by the stream through 
the lava forming this part of the coast. While 
the boats' crews were busily engaged in filling the 
water-casks, one or two of the officers endeavour- 
ed to penetrate the woods in search of game ; but 
the jungle was found every where completely im- 
pervious. The whole forest rung with the dis- 
cordant screams of birds, principally of the parrot 
tribe, dressed in a plumage as brilliant and beauti- 
ful as their notes were unmelodious. In every 
other respect, the scene was perfectly undisturbed, 
nor could there be distinguished a single trace of 
inhabitants, or any symptom to tell that the spot had 
ever been visited since the creation. No change 
of season is known here. Nature seemed to re- 
vel hi a perpetual summer — unmolested and unob- 
served from age to age. 

Shortly after sunset, the hour of which, in a 



JAVA 



15 



country only six degrees south of the Equator, 
scarcely. varies in a sensible degree throughout the 
year, a faint and chill land-breeze blew off to us 
from the high mountain-side, with just strength 
enough to ruffle the surface of the water for a few 
hundred yards from the beach. It was charged not 
with those rich perfumes with which the imagina- 
tion loads the gales of tropical countries, but with 
the damp and noxious vapours of decayed vege- 
tation ; and as the rapid decrease of the daylight 
after sunset, soon deprived the gay landscape of 
all its beauty, the brilliant romance of the scene 
w r e had been admiring so much, speedily vanished. 
The shore was so steep, or according to nautical 
language so bold^ that it might be safely approach- 
ed near enough for us to partake of the light 
breath of wind which stole off in occasional un- 
steady flaws. 

We coasted in this manner along the south 
side of the Straits of Sunda, till the 7th of June, 
when we anchored in Anjeer Roads, directly 
opposite to a little Malay village of that name, 
consisting of huts built of bamboos and wat- 
tled reeds, thatched over with palm-leaves, and 
almost concealed amidst plantains, bananas, 
and other trees of the tropical broad-leaved tribe. 
By those among us already familiar with such 
scenery, this sight, which was highly characteris- 
tic, recalled a thousand recollections of those 
luxurious countries, and was hailed with the live- 
liest satisfaction. The effect upon others who 
saw it for the first time, was almost equally stri- 
king, though for a different reason: It opened to 
their view quite a new world : since the beauties of 

# 



1G 



JAVA. 



this scenery are of a character for which no de- 
scription could prepare their minds. 

In the moral and the political world, likewise, 
there was nearly an equal degree of novelty ; for 
we found ourselves at once plunged into a con- 
fused maze of Dutch and Javanese politics, mixed 
up with many other important and extensive Ori- 
ental interests, none of which we had ever heard a 
syllable about before. The island, it was known, 
in a general way, was to be given up to its old 
masters; but we now had the mortification to 
learn, that much of the good supposed to have 
been brought about by the English while in au- 
thority, was in danger of being utterly lost, by the 
establishment of the old system. These topics, 
quite unknown to most people in Europe, or only 
heard of in occasional whispers by the parties im- 
mediately interested, occupied here almost exclu- 
sively the attention of every one, whether Native, 
Dutch, or English. And what was amusing 
enough, our party, though utter strangers to all 
the details of these transactions, and of course no- 
wise concerned in them, by a very natural conta- 
gion, caught the spirit of the moment, and present- 
ly began to wonder how we had lived so long 
without knowing, and without caring a straw for 
considerations which now appeared so momentous. 

For my own part, however, I took a much live- 
lier interest in viewing the state of manners among 
the native Malay and Javanese inhabitants, un- 
conscious, poor people, of the political changes 
of which they were just about to become the vic- 
tims. As soon, therefore, as I could make my 
escape from a dinner party, I slipped into the 



JAVA. 



17 



village. The sound of music attracted me to a 
grove of trees lying between the village and the 
sea, where a considerable number of the inhabit- 
ants were assembled to celebrate one of their 
periodical festivals, regularly held, as I learned 
afterwards, about the period of full moon. The 
Malays were stretched on the grass in an open 
space formed by a broad circular belt of the 
tail and graceful cocoa-nut tree, which, however 
thickly it grows, never casts more than a feathery 
or chequered shade on the ground, softening 
rather than intercepting the light. The natives 
had placed themselves in a treble circle, the men 
and women occupying the outer part of the ring, 
while the children were squatted on the ground 
within. On one side of the circle was placed a 
Javanese band of music, consisting of four instru- 
ments, which played without ceasing while the 
games lasted. The tones of these instruments 
w r ere exceedingly wild and sweet; and as the 
taste with which they were struck was at all times 
well regulated, and not in any degree boisterous 
or savage, the accompaniment was not only very 
pleasing in itself, but tended greatly to heighten 
the romantic effect of this curious scene. 

In the middle of the ring, which w T as about fifty 
paces wide, stood two men who acted as masters 
of the revels, each holding under his arm a bundle 
of rattans, or canes, two feet in length. These 
persons entertained the company from time to 
time with wild screams, mixed with strange ges- 
ticulations and grimaces. After a short period 
had elapsed, during which these men harangued 
the multitude, to what purpose I could not dis- 



2* 



1% 



JAVA. 



cover, two boys, about fourteen or fifteen year:? 
of age, stepped forward to the centre of the 
arena. Here each of them was furnished by the 
managers with a cane, and being then placed face 
to face, at a yard's distance from one another, 
they were ordered to begin. The first proceeding, 
which was a sort of salute, consisted in touching 
the ground with the rods, and waving them to the 
company: they then approached, and each one 
placing his left hand on his antagonist's right 
shoulder, raised his elbow till it nearly met that of 
the other, overhead ; this movement brought their 
bodies into close contact. Both were naked, 
with the exception of a slight blue cotton cloth 
round the waist. In this attitude they frequently 
continued for several minutes, eyeing one another 
with the keenest attention, holding their rattans 
extended in the right hand, and evidently watch- 
ing for a favourable moment to strike, the sur- 
rounding natives, meanwhile, gazing on the com- 
batants with the most eager and breathless anxie- 
ty, and watching for the event. The music at 
this period lowered its tones, so as just to be 
heard, and the two directors withdrew themselves 
to the distance of several paces, in order to leave 
the ground clear for the combatants. After they 
had grappled each other in this way for some 
time, during which they performed a sort of wa- 
ving or bending motion with their bodies, and 
described circles on the grass^ one or the other, 
seeing his opportunity, gave his antagonist a vio- 
lent blow either on the left side, or, more gene- 
rally, on the calf of the left leg, accompanying the 
„<troke with a loud yell. The instant the blow 



JAVA* 



19 



wus given, the boy who dealt it, sprang quickly 
backwards, in order if he could to escape the 
retaliation of his antagonist, who was never slow 
to return the compliment, which he, in like man- 
ner, if successful, graced with a scream more 
savage than any sound I recollect ever to have 
heard before. In these cries^ they were accom- 
panied by the surrounding Malays, especially 
whenever a blow happened to be given with par- 
ticular effect. If a blow was avoided with re- 
markable dexterity, a shout, in like manner, 
testified the admiration of the spectators, but the 
distinction between these two cries was quite 
obvious. I was so totally unprepared for such 
wild sounds, that my blood ran cold when I first 
heard them, coming as they did from an armed 
multitude of people, proverbially reputed treache- 
rous and blood-thirsty. 

I may be excused in mentioning, by the way, 
that this harsh reproach on the Malay character, 
so long fixed upon them by most historians, has 
been almost entirely removed by the candour and 
good sense of more recent observers and writers* 
The admirable works of Sir Stamford Raffles, and 
Mr. Crawfurd, the highest possible authorities, 
are quite decisive on this point. 

I imagined at first that the blows were given in 
play, till, on going into the centre of the ring, 
which the Malays allowed me to do, I discovered 
that in every instance where they took effect pro- 
perly, a gash of some inches in length was gene- 
rally made in the flesh. The seconds or persons 
in attendance who carried the canes, made it their 
business during the fight to animate the combat- 



20 



JAVA. 



ants by speeches and gestures, and to excite them 
to mutual defiance; from which occupation they 
occasionally turned aside to divert the spectators 
with some ridiculous piece of buffoonery. Only 
one blow by each party was allowed to be struck 
at each round or time of closing. After five or six 
such contests had taken place between boys of 
different ages, several couples of men stood up, 
one at a time; and the cuts which their more 
powerful arms gave, were certainly the severest 
things, in the way of pure sport, I ever witnessed. 

The screams of the combatants were a part of 
the ceremony, not the result of pain, since neither 
the boys nor the men betrayed the least suffering, 
however deep the wounds might be ; besides 
which, I remarked that the scream or yell was 
always uttered by the successful party, never by 
him who received the blow. The perfect temper 
with which these battles were carried on, was not 
the least remarkable circumstance attending them. 
In one instance only of about twenty which I 
witnessed, was any ill humour displayed. Two 
men who had contended for a long time to no 
purpose, being both so dexterous that neither 
could plant a blow, at length lost patience, and 
rushing upon each other with all the ferocity of 
their nature, must soon have spilled blood, had 
not their crises, or short daggers, been left behind 
as a preliminary to the fight. In an instant also 
the two seconds interfered, aided by four or five 
stout Malays, who sprung from the ground the 
moment the first symptom of anger betrayed itself. 
The men who had squabbled were immediately 
dragged out of the ring, order was at once re- 



JAVA. 



21 



stored, and the offending parties appeared to return 
immediately to their senses, on being separated, 
as no one took any farther charge of them, after 
they were expelled from the circle. 

The musical instruments were four in number. 
The principal one consisted of five plates of po- 
lished metal, eight or ten inches long, and two 
broad, laid horizontally across the edges of a 
wooden trough, two feet long, and held in their 
places by wooden pegs, fixed in the edges of the 
trough. The player, who sat behind the frame, 
struck the plates with a small hammer with his 
right hand, while he varied the notes by touching 
the plates with the fingers of the left. Sometimes 
he raised the ends of the bars a little off the 
trough on which they rested. In this way, by va- 
rying the direction and intensity of the blow, a 
considerable range of the sweetest musical sounds 
was produced. The next instrument consisted 
of five burnished brass vessels, not unlike small 
gongs, about six inches in diameter, shaped some- 
what like the bonnet of a Highlander, with a small 
knob or bulge in the centre. These vessels were 
placed with the open part downwards, side by side, 
on two parallel strings, stretching from end to end 
of a case or frame, not unlike a small sofa. Un- 
der each vessel was suspended an empty cocoa- 
nut shell, with one end cut off, and the open part 
upwards ; so that the inverted pot and the cocoa- 
nut presented their openings respectively to each 
other, at the distance of about two inches ; a 
contrivance which greatly improves the sound. 
These pots were of different sizes, and being 
struck with two stuffed sticks, yielded exceeding- 



JAVA. 



ly beautiful tones. As a running bass to these 
instruments, a sort of drum was struck rapidly by 
the fingers. A gong, which measured three feet 
in diameter, was suspended to a handsome frame- 
work : its lips or edges were turned slightly in- 
wards, so that, when held vertically, it was capa- 
ble of holding in the lower part of the rim about 
two pints of water : a device used by the Java- 
nese musicians to give softness to the tones of 
this instrument. The gong, which requires con- 
siderable skill to produce its proper effect, is 
struck with a heavy soft beater, the knob of which 
appears to be formed of elastic gum, and is never 
rung in the violent manner we see practised in this 
country ; but is touched gently, and only at inter- 
vals in the music, when its sonorous tones are re- 
quired to give depth to some particular passage. 

Having no better guide in these matters than 
my own untaught ear, I have since sought anx- 
iously for the opinions of qualified judges ; and 
it gives me much pleasure to find that I was not 
misguided by my own feelings merely, but that 
the Javanese music, and musical instruments, 
are considered by Sir Stamford Raffles and Mr. 
Crawfurd as possessing great merit. I remem- 
ber being once attracted by the sound of music 
to a native's house at Samarang, on this island, 
on a former voyage, in 1814, when returning to 
my ship, after a tiresome day's work ; yet the 
fascination of the music was so powerful, that 
both my wearied companion and myself, neither 
of us extravagantly fond of music, and both quite 
ignorant of it as a science, were riveted to the 
spot, and actually sat all night on the floor, on 



JAVA. 



23 



mats kindly spread by the natives, and never 
moved till the sun streamed into the open cham- 
ber next morning. 

A complete set, or Gamelan, according to Sir 
Stamford Raffles, costs from a thousand to six- 
teen hundred dollars, including all the instruments, 
a particular description of which is given in his 
work on Java. 

Mr. Crawfurd also, in his History of the Indian 
Archipelago, gives a complete account of the 
Javanese music and instruments, which is render- 
ed peculiarly valuable, from containing the opi- 
nion of the celebrated Dr. Crotch. This gentle- 
man, after being supplied with a number of Java- 
nese airs, and having inspected the fine collection 
of musical instruments at the Duke of Somerset's, 
communicated his opinion to Mr. Crawfurd. 
" The tone of these instruments," he observed, 
" exceeds, in depth and quality, any thing I have 
ever heard ;" and alluding to the instrument which 
I have described above, consisting of a number 
of inverted vessels resting upon two strings, he 
says, " The tone of this singular instrument is at 
once powerful and sweet, and its intonation clear 
and perfect." With respect to the whole band, 
or Gamelan, he adds, " he is astonished and de- 
lighted with their ingenious fabrication, splendour, 
beauty, and accurate intonation." 

It has more than once occurred to me that it 
might prove worth while for some theatrical spec- 
ulator to import a Javanese band of musicians 
and instruments into America or England, where 
I am convinced they would excite a very lively 
interest. The numerous ships going to and re- 



24 



JAVA. 



turning from China, through the Straits of Sunda, 
and almost always without passengers, would 
afford convenient means not only of bringing 
them from Java, but of returning them to their 
homes whenever they pleased. 

I remained in the village till long past midnight, 
witnessing these games, and wandering about 
among the natives, who every where treated me 
with the greatest attention, apparently flattered by 
the interest I took in their customs, and pleased 
perhaps by the unreserv ed confidence placed in 
them ; for I was quite alone and unarmed. 

Early next evening I went again to the village, 
accompanied by one of the British residents, who 
had heard that a Malay marriage ceremony was to 
take place. One of the family received us at the 
door, and led us to an inner chamber of conside- 
rable size ; round which were ranged five tables, 
covered with dishes of curry, rice, and fish, with 
numerous plates of sugar-cakes. Beyond this 
apartment, which we were informed was shortly 
to be occupied by some friends of the bride, lay 
another room, very gaudily furnished with bright 
coloured drapery, and hung round with numerous 
elegantly formed lamps, made of split pieces of 
bamboo, each supporting a shell, in which a small 
cotton wick was made to float on castor oil ; an 
article of universal use in Java for household pur- 
poses. Ten venerable personages, with long 
beards, and richly coloured China crape dresses, 
were seated on a low table, round several smoking 
bowls of rice, and messes of meat cut into small 
pieces. These men were not squatting cross- 
legged, like tailors, as our prints generally, but 
falsely, represent the sitting attitude of Orientals. 



JAVA. 



25 



which may be described more properly as a com- 
bination of sitting and kneeling, and is not with- 
out grace. The knees and feet are placed to- 
gether, and the weight of the body rests partly on 
the calves of the leg, and partly on the heels, 
while the toes project behind, with the soles of 
the feet turned upwards. The Persians, and 
many other nations of the East, sit in this man- 
ner ; but the Chinese, who in most respects differ 
from all their neighbours, use chairs and benches 
as we do. 

Our friends, who were busily employed de- 
spatching their supper, stopped on our approach, 
and with great good humour, made room for us at 
their board, and begged us to join in the marriage 
feast. My companion said he saw no fun in this, 
and refused to make one of the party ; but I 
mounted the table, and made the best use I could 
of my ringers, for there were no spoons or other 
implements of the kind. There could not be a 
more striking example of the difference between 
Mahometans and Hindoos, in all matters relating 
to eating, than this supper afforded. The Malays 
and Javanese, though formerly Hindoos, are now 
almost entirely followers of Mahomet ; and as 
such have few of those absurd notions about food, 
which render the inhabitants of India the slaves 
of a thousand ridiculous whims. I remember 
when travelling some years ago near Poonah, „ 
being the unconscious cause of destroying the 
dinner of a whole family, by merely allowing my 
shadow to fall on their pot, or by walking within 
the circle drawn round the fire-place, I could not 
exactly discover which ; but the whole mess was 
thrown away, although provisions were by no 
3 



26 



JAVA. 



means plenty. And I once saw and conversed 
with a man at Bombay, who was absolutely perish- 
ing of hunger, during the famine of 1812 ; and 
who literally died before my eyes, rather than 
taste a morsel of the rice which was presented to 
him, because it had been cooked by a man of a 
different caste. 

It was not until I had been for a minute or two 
on the table, that I spied the happy couple seated 
in great state in a deep recess on one side of the 
apartment, bolstered up with a dozen of large 
pillows covered over with gilt trimmings. They 
were the only grave persons of the company, and 
sat with such fixed and demure looks, that they 
might have been taken for a couple of stuffed 
figures, rather than the givers of so jovial a feast. 
It was evidently, however, part of the etiquette 
that they should appear unmoved by whatever was 
passing, and accordingly, they took no notice of us, 
or of the multitude of people who soon filled the 
chamber to gaze at the strangers. 

But a traveller generally finds more to interest 
him in observing the ordinary, every-day habits of 
the people, than in witnessing ceremonies like 
this, where most things are, to a certain extent, 
got up for the occasion. The whole field of our 
view, indeed, at Anjeer Point, was of so novel a 
description, that wherever the eye was directed, it 
caught something worthy of notice. 

Among the innumerable curious objects of this 
kind, none struck me more than the method used 
by the Malays of boiling rice by steam, which is 
said to have been in use in Java from time imme- 
morial. It is not easy to describe even the sim- 
plest contrivances without a drawing ; but the 



JAVA. 



27 



principle may perhaps be understood by what 
follows :— 

The pot or boiler is a round vessel of metal, 
about eighteen inches high, narrow at the middle, 
and swelling out both at bottom and at top, in 
shape somewhat like a sand-glass, but much less 
contracted in the middle. The diameter of the 
top and the bottom is about a foot. The water is 
first poured in till it is four inches in depth, after 
which is inserted a conical bag, or basket, made 
of a species of grass, somewhat larger than the 
vessel, and filled with rice. The size and form 
of this bag are so adjusted, that the tip or apex 
of the cone shall barely reach to the water. A 
heavy earthenware bowl is also inverted over the 
rice, and serves the double purpose of confining 
the heat, ,and of adding weight to the bag, which 
is thus forced tightly into the neck of the vessel, 
and the egress of the steam at the sides is effect- 
ually prevented. When the water begins to boil, 
the steam must of necessity find its way through 
the interstices of the bag among the rice. If 
the heat be continued, the steam gradually makes 
way to the upper parts ; and after a time, some of 
it escapes through, and is condensed on the top 
and sides of the bag. As soon as this forms into 
drops, it falls down, and being caught by the pro- 
jecting margin of the top of the vessel, either 
gradually trickles back again into the boiler, or 
by forming a lake of water round the edge, con- 
tributes to prevent any steam from rising, except 
through the rice. 

On arriving at a strange country one is often 
at a loss which to admire most, the ingenious con- 
trivances by which man turns to his use the pecu- 



28 



JAVA. 



liar circumstances of the climate, or the less ob- 
vious but far more wonderful manner in which 
nature indicates her beneficent designs. 

A beautiful example of the latter description 
occurs not far from xinjeer Point, on the road to 
Batavia, in the grounds of a gentleman whom I 
visited along with the late Sir Samuel Hood, du- 
ring a journey over great part of Java in 1S14. 
Our host earned us to see a singular tree which 
had been brought from the island of Madagascar, 
called familiarly the Traveller's Friend ; Urania 
being, I believe, its botanical name. It differs 
from most other trees in having all its branches 
in one plane, like the sticks of a fan, or the fea- 
thers of a peacock's tail. At the extremity of each 
branch there grows a broad double leaf, several 
feet in length, which spreads itself out in a very 
graceful manner. These leaves have the pro- 
perty of radiating heat so rapidly, after the sun 
retires, that a copious deposition of dew takes 
place upon them ; this soon collecting into drops, 
forms little streams, which run down the branches 
to the trunk. Here it is received into hollow 
spaces of considerable magnitude, one of which is 
found at the root of every branch. These branches, 
lie one over the other alternately, and when a knife, 
or, which is better, a flat piece of stick, for it is 
not necessary to cut the tree, is inserted between 
the parts which overlap, and slightly drawn to 
one side, so as to cause an opening, a stream of 
water gushes out as if from a fountain. Hence 
the appropriate name of the Traveller's Friend. 

Oh the 9th of June the Alceste arrived from 
the Cape of Good Hope with the Embassy, an 



JAVA. 



29 



event which naturally excited so great a sensation 
in the village, that all farther inquiry into the na- 
tive habits became impossible. The ordinary 
employments and amusements of the Javanese 
were discontinued, and the order of interest in- 
verted, as we ourselves now became the chief 
objects of attraction, instead of being the curi- 
ous observers. In the course of the evening of 
the next day, however, Lord Amherst, accompa- 
nied by most of his suite, walked into the village 
to visit the native chief of the district, a fine old 
Malay. He received us with much dignity of 
manner, and seemed highly flattered by the ho- 
nour which was done him. The walls of his house, 
like most of the rest in this primitive spot, con- 
sisted merely of light basket-work, made suffi- 
ciently open to admit the cool night- wind, which 
swept very agreeably across the room. It was 
the chief's intention to have entertained the Am- 
bassador with a dance of native girls to the mu- 
sic of a fullJavanese band, which, in consequence 
of my description, his lordship had become very 
anxious to hear. This entertainment, however, 
was prevented in rather a ludicrous manner. 
Some of our sailors employed in filling the water- 
casks at the stream which passed by the village, 
had contrived to elude the vigilance of their offi- 
cers, and to get hold of some toddy, or fermented 
juice of the cocoa-nut tree. This mounting into 
their heads, disposed them, in imitation of his 
Excellency, to go in quest of adventures. The 
first object which engaged Jack's attention in 
this stolen march, was one of the large, red, 
smooth-skinned buffaloes of the island tied to a 
bush near the chief's house. The men and the 
3* 



CHINA. 



beast were mutually strangers to one another's 
appearance, but the effect on each was different ; 
for while the sailors were lost in mirth and sur- 
prise at the novelty of the sight, which it must be 
owned was very remarkable, fear alone assailed 
the buffalo, who soon broke loose, and scampered 
off towards the village. The seamen, delighted 
tahave a hunt, as they called it, pursued the ani- 
mal through the streets, waving their hats, and 
shouting Tally ho ! to the amazement and terror 
of the Slalays, who fled in all directions to the 
jungle. The chief sent repeated messages to 
the fugitive figurantes and musicians, but all his 
authority was insufficient to collect the scattered 
corps du ballet of the village. 



CHAPTER II. ' 

PROCEED TO CHINA WATERING PLACE AT HONG 

KONG YELLOW SEA PEI HO, OR PEKIN RIVER 

—ADVENTURES AT THE HARBOUR OF OEI-HAI-OI. 

On the 12th of June, IS 16, the Lyra was once 
more despatched before the other ships of the 
squadron, with letters from the Ambassador to the 
English authorities at Canton, apprising them of 
his approach, and pointing out a rendezvous 
where Sir George Staunton, chief of the Factory, 
and the other gentlemen who were to accompany 
the Embassy, might fall in with his Lordship. 

Owing to light winds, calms, and currents, it 
was not till the 7th of July that we made the coast 
of China ; the south-west monsoon, which blows 



CHINA. 



31 



in summer over the Chinese and Japanese oceans, 
not having yet fully set in. On the next day, we 
communicated with the chief of the Factory, al- 
ready waiting for us on board the Discovery. This 
ship belonged to the Bombay Marine, and was 
under the command of Captain Daniel Ross, an 
officer of great science and industry, well known 
to every eastern navigator as the most extensive, 
and at the same time the most accurate, of nau- 
tical surveyors. Both ships lost no time in repair- 
ing to the appointed station, and in a few days the 
Alceste and General Hewitt joined us at the ren- 
dezvous. 

Serious difficulties now arose as to our future 
movements. A letter announcing the Prince Re- 
gent's intention of sending an Embassy to China 
had been received at Canton, and forwarded to 
the Emperor, some weeks before our arrival, the 
answer to which was hourly expected. But there 
was great reason to fear that the reply would be 
unfavourable to the mission, in which event, its 
farther progress towards a sea-port near the capi- 
tal would be a measure of very doubtful propriety. 
And even admitting that the Embassy were not 
to be rejected altogether, it was conjectured by 
the residents best acquainted with the Chinese 
usages, that the Emperor would assign Canton as 
a landing place, which would be exceedingly in- 
convenient, as the distance is upwards of a thou- 
sand miles from the capital. This apprehension 
was founded on the well-known practice of the 
Chinese, whose constant study it had been to ren- 
der access to the court as difficult as possible. It 
was finally resolved, after much discussion, to put 
the most favourable construction on the matter ; 



32 



CHINA. 



to take it for granted, in short, that the Ambassa- 
dor was to be favourably received, and to push on 
without delay for the Pei Ho river, the nearest to 
Pekin of any part of the sea-coast of China. It 
was contended, that once fairly on the threshold 
of the celestial empire, we should be less exposed 
to the operation of those multifarious intrigues, 
through which it is said every thing must necessa- 
rily pass, if discussed at Canton. 

It was indispensably necessary, however, be- 
fore steering to the northward, into seas so little 
known, to complete our stock of water ; and we 
made sail accordingly for the island of Hong 
Kong, one of the great cluster called the La- 
drones. Here we found a noble cascade ; and 
the night being perfectly calm, with a sea as 
smooth as a mill-pond, in consequence of the 
anchorage being land-locked on every side by 
lofty islands, we filled our water-casks easily, and 
towed them on board in rafts of ten or twenty at a 
time ; an expeditious method but practicable only 
when the distance happens to be small, and the 
sea unruffled. It was almost dark when we an- 
chored, but the moon, which was nearly at the full, 
rose shortly afterwards above the hills. The 
islands in this quarter lay so close to one another, 
that even in the day time, it was difficult to disco- 
ver any outlet, but at night the mountains appeared 
to form a continuous barrier. The nature of the 
ground also being black and unbroken, it seemed 
as if the ships had been transported by some ma- 
gical process to the centre of a solitary lake, lying 
in the bosom of a highland glen. 

Soon after we had taken up our station near 
the jvater-falL but bpfrrp this curious basin was 



CHINA. 



33 



lighted by the moon, and when the most perfect 
silence prevailed over the whole scene, a fleet of 
several hundreds of Chinese fishing-boats sudden- 
ly advanced, in large groups of forty or fifty each, 
from behind the islands. They were rowed about 
with great celerity from place to place, and in 
each boat two or three men stood in the bow, with 
flaming torches in their hands, which they waved 
backwards and forwards, while others of the crew 
were employed in beating, in the most furious 
manner, large gongs, suspended to the masts ; 
and to give full force and finish to this extraor- 
dinary serenade, a chorus of yells and shouts was 
set up from all the boatmen at the full stretch of their 
voices — an uproar which awakened the echoes on 
all the surrounding hills, and rendered the whole 
scene so truly diabolical, that the sailors, astonish- 
ed and delighted at this sudden irruption, insisted 
upon it, that a legion of Chinese devils must 
surely have been let loose, to frighten away the 
Ambassador. But this tumultuous and amusing 
uproar was evidently intended to drive the fish 
from the centre of the harbour into nets placed 
across the narrow channels between the surround- 
ing islands. It was just high water when the 
boats first broke in upon the stillness of the scene, 
and in about half an hour, when the ebb tide be- 
gan to run gently to the eastward, our noisy 
friends allowed themselves to be gradually drifted 
out, greatly to the relief of those contented voya- 
gers among us who preferred a sound sleep to the 
observation of new manners. 

The weather, which at first had been favourable, 
changed next day, and during the 11th and 12th 
of July, our operations were seriously interrupted 



34 



CHINA. 



by constant heavy rain, and violent squalls of wind. 
Even had the watering been completed, the wind, 
which was from east-north-east, must have pre- 
vented our sailing. We ascertained also, much to 
our annoyance, that the Viceroy of Canton had 
contrived to discover our retreat, and a report 
prevailed that the local authorities were on their 
way in a body, to insist upon the Ambassador re- 
maining on the spot till the answer came from 
Pekin. But just at the moment when our anxiety 
was raised to the highest pitch, to our great joy 
the Emperor's reply was received and conveyed 
on board by an express from the Factory. This 
smoothed all our difficulties, since it appeared the 
intention of government to receive the mission fa- 
vourably, and to allow of their landing near the 
capital. 

On the 13th of July, accordingly, we set sail 
for the North of China, and steered through the 
Straits of Formosa, which He between the great 
island of that name and the continent. The best 
charts on board were soon discovered to be nearly 
useless, for we frequently stumbled upon large 
groups of islands, headlands, and bays, of which 
no mention had ever been made. At first this 
groping sort of navigation was trying enough for 
the nerves ; but even at its worst moments, it pos- 
sessed a high degree of interest from its novelty 
and variety. The Lyra being the vessel of the 
least draught of water in the fleet, was sent about 
half a league before the rest, her duty being to 
sound the way, and to signify by signals the num- 
ber of fathoms water obtained by the lead-line. 

It may not be unimportant to mention, that in 
this important and delicate service, we were great- 



CHINA. 



35 



ly aided by Massey's patent Sounding machine, 
an instrument of the highest utility, as it enables 
the navigator to obtain an accurate knowledge of 
the depth of water, without altering the ship's 
course, or retarding her progress for an instant, 
and without requiring the exposure of nearly the 
usual number of men, a consideration of impor- 
tance, in cold and rainy weather. This admirable 
invention is equally useful in unknown seas, and 
in those where the depth of water is ascertained 
to an inch. And I feel it right to take this oppor- 
tunity of recommending its use, being well as- 
sured, from many years' trial, on this and other 
voyages, and under all circumstances, that in no 
other way can the same degree of accuracy be 
obtained. 

On the 25th of July we rounded the promon- 
tory of Shantung, and entered the Yellow Sea ; 
after which we coasted along at no great distance 
from the land, and the weather being quite clear, 
our view of the shore was most satisfactory. On 
the evening of the same day, I was despatched to 
the westward along with Mr. Toone, a gentle- 
man of the Factory, well acquainted with the Chi- 
nese language, who was charged with a letter to 
the chief Mandarins at our proposed landing place, 
Ta Coo, near the mouth of the Pekin River. As 
the Chinese publish at regular intervals a sort of 
red book, in which the names of all the servants of 
government are mentioned, the embassy easily 
ascertained at every place they came to, the names 
of the men in authority. 

We sailed on directly across this shallow sea, 
for two whole days, without seeing land, and gra- 
dually diminishing the depth of water, till at last 



36 



CHINA. 



we began to have some apprehension that we 
should fairly stick in the mud, before our object 
was accomplished. At sunset on the 27th, no 
land could be perceived from the mast-head, al- 
though we were in less than five fathoms water. 
Before it became quite dark, however, we caught 
just a glimpse of the tops of some tall trees, after 
which we anchored in twenty-one feet water. Be- 
fore the day broke next morning, however, the 
tide had fallen a whole fathom, which brought the 
ship's bottom within three feet of the ground. 
Our business, however, being to open a communi- 
cation with the shore at all hazards, the anchor 
was weighed, and sail again made to the west- 
ward. It was soon afterwards discovered, that 
the brig was actually sailing along with her keel 
in the mud, which was sufficiently indicated by a 
long yellow train in our wake. Some incon- 
venience was caused by this extreme shallowness, 
as it retarded our head- way, and affected the steer- 
ing ; but there was in reality not much danger, as 
it was ascertained, by forcing long poles into the 
ground, that for many fathoms below the surface 
on which the sounding-lead rested, and from 
which level the depth of water is estimated, the 
bottom consisted of nothing but mud formed of 
an impalpable powder, without the least particle 
of sand or gravel. 

The water at every part of this sea over which 
we were sailing, was contaminated by the intermix- 
ture of mud slightly yellow in its colour, and 
hence its appropriate name. In process of time, 
the deposits from the innumerable streams which 
fall into this great gulf from China and Tartary, 
must fill it entirely up. and the Yellow Sea will 



CHINA. 



37 



become a vast alluvial district, like Bengal, or 
Egypt. The present inclination of the bottom is 
about a foot in a geographical mile, or somewhat 
less than one in five thousand ; and it is probable 
that the bottom of the Yellow Sea, as it rises, 
will likewise gradually approximate to a horizon- 
tal plain. 

Our next difficulty was how to send the Ambas- 
sador's letter ; and in order to inquire into this 
point, Mr. Toone and I rowed to a Chinese fish- 
ing junk lying at anchor not far from us. The 
people on board of her received us with much cor- 
diality, and placing a bench for us on their quar- 
ter-deck, made us sit down. Their dialect was 
so different from that of the South, that Mr. Toone 
had some difficulty in making himself understood 
by speech ; but the instant he had recourse to the 
written language, every man in the boat under- 
stood him. The curiosity of these people, parti- 
cularly respecting our dress, was very amusing ; 
and while the interpreter was engaged with the 
commander of the junk, I fell into the hands of the 
crew, who begged leave to take off and examine 
one of my shoes, unbuttoned the epaulettes from 
my shoulders, and expressed the greatest wonder 
at every part of my dress, different in all respects 
from their own. In the course of this overhaul, to 
which I most willingly submitted, they lighted on 
a pocket compass, the nature of which they com- 
prehended immediately, for three or four of them 
carried it off to compare with their own needle. 

As the Chinese compass differs totally from 
ours, not only in construction but in appearance, 
it was curious to observe how quickly these rude 
fishermen detected, under all its disguises, that 
4 



3S 



C HIN A . 



identity in principle, which renders the mysterious 
agency of the magnet subservient to the humblest, 
as well as to the most scientific purposes of navi- 
gation, in every climate, and in every stage of 
society. It was quite natural, therefore, that these 
boatmen, without reasoning much on the matter, 
should be delighted to discover a point of resem- 
blance between us in so important a particular, 
and they returned the compass with much com- 
placency. 

A shower of rain drove us about this time to the 
cabin, a neat little apartment, round which were 
spread a few fur skins, and very comfortable pil- 
lows in small pigeon-holes, or sleeping-births. On 
the table lay a pile of copper money threaded on 
a cord by means of small square holes in the centre 
of the coin ; numerous printed Chinese books were 
lying about, and every thing which caught the eye 
spoke the language of another region. The pecu- 
liarity, however, which struck us as being the most 
remarkable about these people, was the well-known 
long tuft or tail, reaching from the back of the 
head nearly to the ground ; all the rest of the head 
being shaved. This fashion was, I believe forcibly 
imposed upon the nation about two centuries ago 
by their Tartar conquerors, who being compara- 
tively few in numbers, endeavoured to conceal 
their weakness by obliging the whole Chinese 
nation to adopt their dress. It is a hardship so 
grievous to a Chinese to alter any established cus- 
tom, that, as we learn from an old Jesuit writer, 
nearly as many persons suffered on the scaffold 
for refusing to crop their locks, as had been killed 
in action during a long and bloody war. The Tar- 
tar-, however, had the sword in their hands, and 



CHINA. 



39 



this great revolution in dress was at last completely 
effected with two singular exceptions : the execu- 
tioners all over China wear the old and graceful 
dress of the country ; and the stage-players inva- 
riably appear in the same degraded costume. Yet 
such is the effect of custom, that nothing in our 
dress or manners excited so much surprise in these 
people, or appeared more preposterous in their 
eyes, than our contriving to exist without these 
long tails. 

Our friends could not be prevailed upon to carry 
the letter on shore ; but as they had been very- 
kind, we wished to ingratiate ourselves with them, 
and begged their acceptance of a couple of dollars 
as we were coming away. The Captain and his 
crew assembled in a ring, and turned over the 
pieces from hand to hand, just as I have seen a 
group of monkeys do when puzzled with some new 
object. They were not satisfied with our gift 
upon farther examination, and wished to return it ; 
but finding us determined not to take back the 
money, they very unceremoniously pitched it into 
the boat as we rowed away. 

Having failed in this attempt to communicate 
with the shore, through the medium of the natives, 
we returned on board, with the intention of send- 
ing one of our own boats next day. Meanwhile 
the squadron were descried at a distance in the 
oiling, where, on account of the shallowness of the 
water, they were obliged to anchor. 

Early next morning two large junks came 
towards us from the shore, one of which anchored 
at no great distance, while the other, to our sur- 
prise, sailed as a boat would do straight alongside 
of tile Lyra, her great masts nearly sweeping away 



40 



CHINA. 



our lower yards. In the next instant we were 
boarded by two Chinese officers, middle-aged, 
portly, comfortable-looking Mandarins, with Very 
dark mahogany-coloured faces. Each of them 
w r ore on his head a conical cap, surrounded by 
the usual distinguishing button, from which de- 
pended a ringlet of red floss silk on one side. 

The Chinese dress is too well known to require 
description ; but as this was the first occasion on 
^ich most of our party had seen it, except on 



sensation all over the ship. I have often obser- 
ved, that in remote countries, there is a peculiar 
kind of interest in witnessing realities, after a long 
familiarity with the mere representation. The 
imagination is so much habituated to contemplate 
the copy, that it naturally comes to take the place 
of the original, and when at last we see the thing 
itself, it has the full merit of novelty, with the ad- 
dition of something more. I well remember the 
first time I saw Chinese houses and people at Pu- 
lo Penang, in the Straits of Malacca. For a long 
time I could not help associating them with their 
prototypes on crockery ; so that whenever I met 
Fakee, as Chinamen are familiarly called in the 
English settlements, I was half disposed to laugh 
in his face, from the ridiculous personification he 
exhibited of the figures on a fire-screen or on a 
punch-bowl. 

The youngest of the two Mandarins, who was 
the senior in rank, and a very merry personage, 
made himself at home in a moment : — he laughed, 
joked, and skipped about, examining every thing 
more like a child than a grave public functionary. 
On entering the cabin, to which our guests were 




saucers, it excited a considerable 



CHINA, 



41 



invited, our merry Mend placed himself unceremo- 
niously, but not rudely, at the head of the table, 
and reaching his arm out, drew a book from the 
library, opened it, and, with great affected formali- 
ty, turned the leaves backwards and forwards till 
he lighted upon the title-page. He then held it 
up before him, examined it with his eyes nearly 
closed, — turned it upside down, — sideways, and in 
every direction, — twisting his face into all sorts of 
ridiculous forms, expressive of his amusement and 
surprise at the strangeness of what he saw ; — -then 
jumping on his feet, displayed the book to his 
wondering attendants, who had taken possession 
of the sky-light, and were thrusting their heads 
down to see what was going on. I entertained 
them with cherry brandy, which, though quite new 
to them, seemed to suit both master and man, for 
the Mandarins no sooner drank, than they filled 
their glasses again, and were not contented till all 
their attendants had followed so good an example. 
Cherry brandy, a species of liquor adapted to the 
taste of all countries, I have observed, is a univer- 
sal bribe among rude as well as civilized nations ; 
the combined strength and sweetness, added to the 
fine deep colour of this insinuating beverage, are 
indeed so irresistible, that I would recommend no 
voyager to omit taking a good supply on board, as 
he will find its instructions succeed on many occa- 
sions, when graver lessons fail. 

It was now high time to come to business ; and 
we were glad to find the Mandarins willing to re- 
turn to Ta Koo immediately with our letter. The 
interpreter found much less difficulty in communi- 
cating with these men, who were persons of edu- 
cation, than with the boatmen whom we visited the 
4* 



42 



CHINA. 



day before ; but it was still necessary sometimes 
to have recourse to the written language. The 
Chinese write generally with a brush and Indian 
ink. on a fine silky paper ; but in conversation it 
is often sufficient to describe the character on their 
hands, or even in the air with the end of their fans. 
During this interview, it happened that one of the 
Mandarins, observing that his meaning expressed 
in words was not understood, and wishing to write 
it down, looked about for pen and ink, but not 
seeing any, and being in a hurry to rectify the mis- 
take, dipped his finger, without apology, into his 
neighbour's glass, (for the contents of his own had 
long disappeared,) and painted the symbols on the 
tabfe. 

It was some time before we could get the ship 
cleared of our guests, for while the chiefs were 
pledging the Emperor in cherry brandy, the boat- 
men were taken in charge by the sailors, who, in 
like manner, were initiating them, with equal suc- 
cess, into the mysteries of grog and salt-beef. 

As soon as the junks left us, we tripped our an- 
chor, and rejoined the squadron, which, though 
anchored far at sea, were only in twenty-seven 
feet water. The weather now became so unset- 
tled that there was no communication from the 
shore till the fourth of August, when two Manda- 
rins, who had been ordered to attend the Ambas- 
sador, came on board to pay their respects to his 
Lordship. They sailed at once alongside, in great 
junks, nearly as high as the frigate ; and when 
made fast, the Mandsrrins scrambled up the side 
with some difficulty, owing to the load of state- 
robes with which they had encumbered themselves 
for the ocn^ion. Previously to approaching the 



CHINA. 



43 



ship, two visiting cards were despatched by an in- 
ferior officer from these great persons, which, ac- 
cording to our notions, were absurd enough, as 
they were at least a foot and a half in length, and 
not less than a foot wide. They were made of 
red-coloured paper, with the name and title written 
in a perpendicular line in the centre. The senior 
Mandarin, who wore a blue ball, was an officer on 
the civil establishment, while his companion, whose 
button was of red coral, belonged to the military ; 
—it being the policy of their jealous court, we 
w r ere told, always to divide the authority of such 
commissions, hoping in this way to neutralize the 
ascendancy of either order. The principal officer 
employed on the delicate service of conducting the 
embassy through the country, and called by us the 
Legate, did not make his appearance to-day, being 
much too great a personage to trust himself eight 
or ten miles on the open sea, merely to pay a visit 
of ceremony. He therefore wisely sent his depu- 
ties for that purpose, and charged them with many 
civil messages. 

One of these Mandarins brought off his son with 
him, a fine little boy, whose presence contributed 
materially to break down the ice of ceremony. In 
our subsequent voyage, we frequently saw the 
same thing practised with great success. A por- 
tion of the unaffected familiarity with which most 
people are disposed to treat a child, always glances 
off to the parent, and, as we found, by reacting 
upon ourselves, gave birth to that sort of cordiality 
so useful in forwarding the intercourse of perfect 
strangers. Upon the present occasion, the first 
during which any real business was transacted, 
both parties naturally felt a little cautious and dis- 



44 



CHINA. 



trustful of the other, feelings which prevailed more 
or less during the whole interview. Just as the 
Mandarins, however, were leaving the ship, and 
while Lord Amherst and all the officers were stand- 
ing on the deck to see them away, the little boy 
came forward, and, with much gracefulness of man- 
ner, kneeled to the Ambassador, and held out his 
hand, with an arch and playful expression of coun- 
tenance, which it was impossible to resist. At 
this moment Lord Amherst's own son, about the 
same age as the young Mandarin, came forward 
and was presented to our visiters, who, instead of 
going immediately into their boat, as they had pro- 
posed, turned cheerfully round and remained some 
time longer on board ; ail parties, from that pe- 
riod, being relieved from much needless formality. 

To those who like myself had leisure to watch 
what was going on, the occasion was fertile in 
scenes of interest. I observed that, no sooner had 
the military Mandarin performed his official part, 
and returned to his own junk, than he hastened to 
his crib of a cabin, flung off his robes, his crape 
petticoat, his great unwieldy velvet boots, with 
soles an inch thick, and his fantastical cap, and 
issuing forth with his pipe hanging out of one side 
of his mouth, and a pair of slippers on his feet, ap- 
peared on the deck of his vessel without one trace 
of the grandee left. So anxious indeed was he to 
remove from our minds the idea of his being natu- 
rally the grave and austere personage we had seen 
before, that he immediately set about monkey 
tricks, as they are called at sea, and diverted him- 
self with throwing peaches to the young midship- 
men, who, in a correspondent taste, had climbed 



CHINA. 



45. 



into the rigging, and were not slow to better this 
instruction. 

During the preceding interview, more than a 
dozen sail of junks had assembled near and along- 
side the ship ; and as each one tried to get nearer 
than his neighbour, a fine scramble and racket took 
place, with abundance of altercation, and, if there 
be any analogy between the sea-ports of different 
countries, I dare say an ample allowance of oaths 
and scurrility. Both these were lost upon us ; but 
the tones, the gesticulations, the angry looks of the 
disputants, the whole scene, in short, was infinite- 
ly comic. Yet there was no lack of discipline 
amidst all this strange turmoil ; for no sooner had 
a gong sounded on board the commodore's junk, 
than it was answered by the ringing of others in 
each vessel, and in an instant all the Chinese left 
their disputes and scampered back, every one to 
his own vessel, when they all pushed off and an- 
chored about a cable's length from the ship. 

A new scene now succeeded. Eight large junks, 
all bearing broad flags and swallow- tailed pendants, 
among which the imperial dragon was the most 
conspicuous, came sailing up, and dexterously 
placed their unwieldy masses alongside of the ship. 
These vessels were loaded with a present sent to 
the squadron by order of the Emperor. It may be 
amusing to specify the articles, selected, it must 
be owned, with some judgment, considering the 
length of time we had been at sea. There were 
ten good-sized bullocks, twenty sheep, as many 
hogs, and a hundred ducks and fowls, besides a 
great store of vegetables, and many boxes of tea. 
The bearers of this welcome offering were admit- 
ted at their own request, and with great good-will 



46 



CHINA 



on our part, to see the ships, over which they ro- 
ved in parties of eight or ten each, to examine 
every thing with the greatest care. The seamen, 
who were delighted with the Emperor's liberality, 
and the prospect of a fresh meal, were greatly en- 
tertained with the oddity of the Chinese dress and 
manners, and paid them the most obsequious atten- 
tion, escorting them round the decks like ladies, 
smoothing down their long tails, joking and talking 
with them, apparently unconscious, or, if conscious, 
not caring, whether John Chinaman, as they call- 
ed him, understood them or not. It is Jack's cus- 
tom, wherever he goes, to call every one he en- 
counters abroad a mere outlandish-man, forgetting 
that it is himself alone who is so. Should the 
people he meets with happen to understand a word 
or two of English, he is satisfied, and they are set 
down for sensible people ; otherwise he pities their 
ignorance, and laughs at the folly of their designating 
common things by names strange to his ears. I re- 
member once overhearing the conversation of two 
of my sailors in the streets of Valparaiso, in South 
America, who had only been a few days in the 
country, when one said to the other " What do 
you think of these people ?' — " Why," replied his 
companion, with a look of thorough contempt, 
" will you believe it — the infernal outlandish fools 
call a hat Sombrero!" 

The only circumstance which threatened to dis- 
turb the harmony subsisting between us and our 
visiters, arose from a prank played off upon them 
by some of our youngsters. The strangers were 
courteously invited to sit down in the midship- 
men's birth ; but when they attempted to rise, 
found themselves fixed down like Gulliver, for 



their wicked entertainers had tied each of them 
by the long tail to the back of his chair. At first 
the astonished Mandarins were much incensed ; 
but the oddity of the scene was so irresistible, that 
even the suffering parties presently joined in the 
laugh. The story soon got abroad, and ever 
afterwards, the Chinese, before venturing between 
decks, took the precaution of coiling their tufts 
round their heads, out the reach of such practical 
jokes. 

When the morning broke on the 5th of August, 
we found ourselves surrounded, to the distance of 
a quarter of a mile in every direction, by junks, 
attracted from the adjacent coast by the wonderful 
sight of foreign vessels. Some of these vessels 
were of great dimensions, towering above the wa- 
ter, in form and size more like castles than ships ; 
while others were so diminutive, that it was wonder- 
ful how they dared to trust themselves so far off at 
sea. Most of them were lying at anchor ; but a 
few of the more curious continued sailing round 
us, expressing by shouts and admiring gestures, 
the liveliest satisfaction at what they saw. I man- 
ned my gig to make an excursion among these 
boats, and found many of the people in motion, 
even at this early hour, the sun being hardly above 
the horizon. On board one junk, the captain and 
crew, who were just going to breakfast, entreated 
me by signs to join them, an invitation which, all 
things recollected about the nature of Chinese 
dietetics, I had no great mind to accept. Never- 
theless, keeping dogs and cats as much as possi- 
ble out of my thoughts, I put a good face upon the 
matter, and sat down. The deck, spread over 
with a neat grass mat, was our table, the breakfast 



48 



CHINA. 



consisted of five or six bowls of finely-b oiled 
rice, as white as snow, with a variety of savoury 7 
hashes and stews : and in the centre of all stood 
a large smoking dish, containing what looked very 
like an omelet. Their drink, a sort of weak spirit 
not unlike whiskey diluted, was handed round by 
the attendants in very diminutive tea-cups. I had 
intended merely to go through the ceremony of 
tasting a morsel of rice, to please these kind peo- 
ple, but ended by making a hearty meal, to the 
unspeakable delight of the Chinese boatmen. 

On the 9th of August, 1816, the ambassador 
and suite landed at the town of Tacoo, about a 
mile from the mouth of the Pei Ho. On enter- 
ing the river, a salute of three guns was fired 
from a fortification on the southern side. The , 
guns were thrust into the ground, and fired per- 
pendicularly in the air, to avoid, as the Chinese 
told us, the possibility of any accident. The fort 
exactly resembled these showy castles we see 
painted on china-ware, and was about as large as 
those redoubtable strong places introduced in 
Astley's amphitheatre. The military, drawn up to 
salute the ambassador as he passed, were quite in 
character with the fortress ; the greater number 
being armed with bows and arrows, while many 
carried nothing but spears, to the ends of which 
were fixed small flags, and eight or ten formidable- 
looking warriors strutted in front, with match-locks 
on their shoulders. The banks of the river, be- 
yond which we could distinguish nothing but an 
extensive flat marshy country, were crowded with 
people ; and thousands of boats, assembled from 
all quarters, nearly choked up the passage. 

Here we took leave of the embassy ; and, for 



CHINA. 



49 



five months afterwards, never heard a single word 
that could he depended upon respecting their 
movements. On the 11th of August, when the 
ships left the anchorage, the Aleeste and Discove- 
ry steered to the northward, to examine the Gulf 
of Leotung ; while the Lyra and the Investigator, 
a ship belonging to the surveying service, sailed 
round the G-ulf of Petchelee lying to the South. 
The details of these surveys, however curious 
and instructive in a professional point of view, 
and useful to future navigators, possess no popu- 
lar interest. On the 22d of August, the w r ho!a 
squadron were reassembled at Che-a-tou Bay, 
already sufficiently described in the accounts of 
the former embassy. They remained for a few 
days in this harbour, to rent the rigging, and on 
the 26th proceeded together along the coast of 
Shantung, to the eastward, as far as the harbour 
of Oei-hai-oi. This place, which was not men- 
tioned on any of our maps, had probably never 
been visited by any European : As the natives of 
this part of China could therefore have had no pre- 
vious intercourse with strangers, and very proba- 
bly, were not aware that any other nation existed, 
it maybe worth while to describe the nature of our 
reception. And I do so the more readily, because 
the result of our observations was rather favour- 
able than otherwise to the Chinese character. 

It ought always to be remembered, that most of 
the information on the subject of China, in xime- 
rica or in England, consists of what we hear from 
day to day respecting the state of society at the 
great sea-port of Canton. But it is obviously as 
unfair to judge of the Chinese by such data, as 
it would be to estimate the character of more 
5 



CELTS A. 



western nations, from such materials as Rother- 
hithe or Corlear's Hook might afibrd. Yet our 
judgment is insensibly warped by these reitera- 
ted statements, and we forget the more favoura- 
ble pictures drawn by the high authority of Bar- 
row, Du Halde, and others, whose means extended 
so much farther. Undoubtedly the Chinese have 
to thank their own narrow policy v\hich confines 
our observation to one spot, for all this prejudice 
and error. But this should not make us less desi- 
rous of getting at the truth when an opportunity 
such as the present occurs, of seeing the inhabit- 
ants in a remote part of the empire, where they 
are unsophisticated by external influence, and 
where the laws and usages of the country alone 
may be supposed to regulate their manners. 

As we stood up the bay, numerous boats crowd- 
ed alongside, and the people leaping from them, 
soon tilled our decks. They were freely permitted 
to examine every thing, and even to go into the 
cabins, without being watched ; yet not a single 
article was missed, although, had any thing been 
stolen, detection would have been almost impossi- 
ble. After we had anchored, several Mandarins 
came on board, with whom we tried to open a 
communication, but having no good interpreter, 
ire failed in making ourselves well understood. 
Our chief object was to obtain a supply of fresh 
provisions and vegetables, as the Emperor's pre- 
sent had speedily disappeared. In the afternoon, 
it was thought right to return the visit of the local 
authorities who had come on board in the morning. 
Accordingly we proceeded to the village, which, 
like most we had seen on this part of the coast, 
was so much enveloped by the rich foliage of 
trees planted in the streets, that not above a tenth 



part of the houses could be seen at one time. The 
whole population crowded to the shore to receive 
us ; and many persons, to obtain a better view of 
the strangers, ran up to their middle in the water, 
whilst every boat's mast, house top, and tree, was 
thickly clustered over with wondering faces. Af- 
ter landing we were escorted along by many hun- 
dreds of both sexes, whose curiosity got so com- 
pletely the better of their good manners, that at 
times our way was absolutely blocked up, and we 
were well nigh choked in the crowd. It was 
therefore a great relief to get into the Mandarin's 
house, a neat and even elegantly furnished mansion. 
The walls were finely papered, and ornamented 
with some spirited landscapes, sketched in Indian 
ink, and several fantastical highly finished drawings 
of their portly deities or sages, whom it is their 
delight to represent in this manner ; corpulence 
being with them an infallible symptom of wisdom 
and dignity. The windows consisted of a frame- 
work of cross bars, forming spaces of two inches 
square, covered with oiled paper or blue gauze* 
contrivances to soften the glare of light, out of 
doors almost insupportable. The Mandarins were 
extremely glad to see us ; made us take chairs, en- 
tertained us with tea, hot wine, and sweet cakes, 
and appeared most desirous to find out what we 
were in want of. We succeeded very well in every 
part of our interpretation, excepting in the primary 
articles of bullocks and vegetables. Whenever 
the conversation took this turn, our interpreter 
somehow or other could never make them under- 
stand what we would be at. This interpreter, by 
the way, was not of the best description, being 
jnerely an tinder-ssrvant of the Factory, who 



cms a. 



ought to have accompanied the embassy, but by 
accident was left behind. As he spoke English 
imperfectly, and we had no great opinion of his 
honesty, we were more at his mercy than was at 
all agreeable. We ought undoubtedly to have 
been accompanied by one of the gentlemen of the 
establishment, who could write and speak the lan- 
guage of the country ; but in the bustle of the 
more important matters relating to the embassy, 
our wants in this respect were never thought of 
till it was too late. 

By the time this visit of ceremony was over, 
the mob had dispersed, and we separated into dif- 
ferent parties, to stroll about the country, no sort 
of objection being made to our doing so. I have 
often remarked that on these occasions, where no 
harm is intended, and the gratification of curiosity 
the only object, the best way is to go straight for- 
ward, without putting difficulties into the people's 
heads, by seeming to imagine any permission ne- 
cessary. At least during this voyage, whenever 
we began by soliciting leave to walk into the coun- 
try, or to look at anything, our request was almost 
invariably refused. It is always easy enough to 
discover when such a proceeding is really disa- 
greeable or improper ; and it seems then full time 
to turn back. 

The first house we visited, at some distance in 
the country, was surrounded by a wall of fence, 
made of neatly- wattled twigs. On the steps be- 
fore the door sat a woman sewing, who as soon as 
she beheld the apparition of half a dozen strange- 
looking men, screamed out, threw down her work, 
and in spite of all our attempts to pacify her, con- 
tinued to alarm the neighbourhood with her cries. 



CHINA. 



53 



Among the people who came to her relief was a 
middle-aged man, probably her husband, who, with 
great roughness, turned us round by the shoulders., 
marched us out of his grounds, and pointed to the 
ships. There was no mistaking this, and finding 
our eloquence only augmented the lady's fury, and 
the honest man's indignation, we gave up the point, 
and turned from this uncivil couple towards a party 
of men and women employed in winnowing corn. 
This was done on a hard smooth mud floor, raised 
three feet above the level of the field, near a farm- 
house. We observed that they first beat the corn 
with flails, not unlike a watchman's rattle, and then 
tossed it into the air, that the wind might blow away 
the chaff. One of the farmers showed me a small 
double drill-plough, and when I expressed some cu- 
riosity about these matters, he put the plough into 
my hands, implying that he wished me to keep it 
In the course of the evening he brought it on board, 
but would accept nothing in return. We succeed- 
ed in gaining ground much better with this group 
than with the scolding lady, chiefly by making 
friends in the first instance of the children, to whom 
we gave buttons, curtain rings, and such trifles as 
we had put in our pockets on leaving the ship. 
This speedily opened a way to the good will of the 
parents, and as soon as we observed them softening 
a little in their reserve, we engaged their full atten- 
tion and respect, by ahVwing them a peep through 
the telescope, always an object of great wonder to 
such people ; after this had gone round the circle, 
we produced the pocket-compass, which they 
stared at' with great delight, and a sight of our 
watches completed the treaty of amity between us. 
While this was going on, a countryman driving 



64 



C'HIZvA. 



a donkey loaded with vegetables, joined the party. 
We instantly tried to open a traffic with him for his 
whole cargo, but here an unexpected difficulty 
arose. He knew so little of our money, that he 
refused to part with his vegetables in exchange for 
Spanish dollars, a coin we had always been taught 
to believe passed current in every corner of the 
earth. All the trinkets we had brought with us had 
been already disposed of, and nothing but what was 
valuable remained ; our friend, however, though 
evidently much amused, and willing enough to sell 
his cabbages, would give nothing without some 
equivalent. In this unwonted dilemma, when sil- 
ver w T as of no avail, it occurred to me to try the 
efficacy of a more showy metal, and borrowing the 
countryman's knife from him, I cut a button from 
my uniform, then seizing a bundle of leeks in one 
hand, and displaying the crown and anchor in the 
other, I appealed to the company whether the bar- 
gain was not a fair one. This was irresistible ; 
and I carried my point by acclamation. In this 
way, by stripping one side of my jacket of its row of 
finery, and debating the value of each item, I be- 
came possessed of the whole cargo. The winnow- 
ing party, including several women, and a number 
of children, had left their work, and assembled round 
us, listening to this discussion, which I need not 
say was carried on with much laughing an^ joking 
on both sides, although neither party understood a 
a syllable of the other's language. I was a little at 
a loss what to do with my purchase, for my sole ob- 
ject, in which I completely succeeded, had been to 
produce good-humour, and I had nobody with me 
to carry the vegetables. At length, however, I ex- 
plained to the peasant that I wished them carried to 



the boat, and although I took no farther charge of 
him, he delivered them faithfully in the course of 
the afternoon. 

In the evening of the same day, Mr. Clifford, an 
officer of the navy on half pay, who accompanied 
me on this voyage, proposed that we should land on 
the side of the harbour opposite to the village, with 
which we had yet held no intercourse, in order to 
walk for some distance up the country, and thus see 
the inhabitants in places where the news of our ar- 
rival had hardly reached. Having landed accord- 
ingly, we pursued a path leading from the shore, 
passed a low ridge of hills, and descended into a se- 
cluded valley, in the bottom of which, under a 
grove of trees, there w as built the neatest little ham- 
let we had yet seen in China. Eight or ten of the 
villagers came forward to welcome us, and placing 
chairs for us under the trees, begged us to partake 
of their hospitality. They had observed us break- 
ing some specimens from the cliffs near the top of 
the hill, and naturally concluding that we set some 
value upon what we examined so carefully, de- 
spatched several boys, who returned loaded with 
many more specimens than we had occasion for. 
In return for their kindness, we allowed them to 
examine our dress, which they did with many ex- 
pressions of astonishment. The objects, however, 
which excited most wonder were our watches ; 
and we found universally during this voyage, that 
when every other thing failed to engage the atten- 
tion of the natives, the sight of a watch accomplish- 
ed the business ; or if not, it was hopeless to make 
farther attempts. They had a name for it, how- 
ever, we discovered ; and even at this remote cor- 
ner of the globe, there was alwavs some one of the 



CHINA. 



company who pretended to know more or less of 
its use. On this occasion all the inhabitants of the 
village appeared to be assembled ; they grouped 
themselves on the grass round about us, the chil- 
dren always in front ; for we observed wherever we 
went in China, the most studious anxiety on the 
part of the parents to gratify the little people with 
the most advantageous sight of the strangers. 

During the inspection which was instituted into 
my apparel, I had given to one man my hat, to an- 
other my gloves, a third amused himself and the 
company by opening and shutting my pen-knife, 
and in the contusion my watch was passed from 
hand to hand, till lost sight of altogether At length 
these good people were satisfied ; and fancying 
every thing was restored, we took our leave as the 
day was closing. But we left the village by a dif- 
ferent path from that by which we had come ; and 
after wandering for some time among the hills, 
till it became almost dark, returned to the shore. 
Before stepping into the boat, however, I wished 
to make a record of the time of tide, and then first 
discovered that my watch was gone. I had no re- 
collection of the person into whose hands I had 
given it ; and even if I had, was without any means 
of discovering him. All the stories about the 
thievish disposition of the Chinese now crowded 
upon our recollection ; and the good opinion we 
were gradually forming of their character, was 
shaken to its foundation. The watch, however, 
was much too valuable to be lost without an effort, 
and we resolved to return to the village, to give it 
a chance. 

All was now silent among the cottages, and we 
wandered about for some time, till attracted by a 



light at a window, we went up to it, and addressed 
two people sitting at supper in the room. They 
were much alarmed at our sudden appearance, 
pushed us rudely away, and closed the window. 
This was an unpropitious beginning ; but we per- 
severed till, on reaching the court or square near 
the centre of the village, we fortunately lighted 
upon a party of eight or ten men, some lying on 
the ground, others seated on chairs, smoking their 
pipes, and enjoying the delicious coolness of the 
evening air, which had succeeded to the burning 
heat of the day. I was not much in a humour to 
notice fine grouping or picturesque effects, but 
happening to remember the Chinese for watch, 
Pee-o-i, I repeatedly pronounced it, exhibiting at 
the same time my empty pockets. The word or 
the action easily made them comprehend my loss. 
But as I was under the full conviction all the while 
that I never should see my watch again, I may 
probably have expressed some impatience on the 
occasion. This, however, produced little effect 
on the Chinese, who merely took their pipes from 
their mouths, leaned on their elbows, and listened 
with great attention to all I had to say. When I 
had finished my speech, which consisted principal- 
ly of signs, interspersed with occasional mention of 
the word Pee-o-i, an old gentleman of the party 
got up, and patting me good-naturedly on the 
shoulder, gave me his ready-lighted pipe to con- 
sole me, and with great gravity, in the midst of 
which I fancied I could sometimes detect an ironi- 
cal smile when he looked towards his companions, 
made me a long speech, which, although I could 
not understand a single word of it, seemed to set 
forth that it was quite useless to be angry about 



38 



CHINA. 



the matter. The rest of the party laughed heartily 
at the oddity of this dialogue, and seemed deter- 
mined to take no steps till the discussion was over. 
As I saw very soon that there was nothing for it 
but good-humour — or rather, that nothing was to 
be gained by impatience, I sat down among them, 
accepted the orator's pipe, and puffed away as 
well as the most experienced smoker of the party. 
I had no sooner been seated on a chair which was 
brought for me, as they would not suffer me to 
stretch myself on the ground, than the spokesman 
of the party, w 7 ho had just lectured me, as I con- 
jectured, upon the virtue of patience, looking over 
his shoulder and laughing, spoke a few words to 
one of the young men seated on the grass near 
him, who immediately rose and left the party. In 
about five minutes the messenger returned, bring- 
ing along with him another person, who held my 
watch in his hand ; and I now recognized the face 
of the man I had first given it to. He explained, 
as I understood him, that as I had left the village 
by another road, (pointing first to the one way, and 
then to the other.) he had quite lost sight of me, 
but that next day he meant to have brought the 
watch on board. This I inferred from his pointing 
to where the sun rose, and then towards the ships. 
At all events, I was happy enough to recover my 
lost property, and the first impulse naturally was 
to give him some reward. I had only a dollar, 
and two or three smaller coins with me, which I 
put into the young man's hand ; but this was no 
sooner observed, than two or three of the others 
jumped on their feet, and taking the money from 
him, thrust it back again into my pockets. I 
made him sit down, however, and it will easily be 



59 



understood that the recovery of the watch was 
more efficacious in restoring good-humour than 
the old fellow's lecture had been ; and so my sen- 
tentious friend himself seemed to think, for he ad- 
dressed me with the former affected seriousness of 
tone and manner, and then laughed heartily as he 
pointed to the watch. It is wonderful, indeed, 
how without language, people can generally make 
themselves mutually understood when there is 
good will on both sides, and how difficult, even 
with all the advantages of speech, the most simple 
explanation becomes, when temper or interest op- 
poses an obstacle to the mutual apprehension of 
the subject. 

I was naturally anxious, before returning on 
board, to leave some mark of gratitude for the 
good service these obliging people had rendered 
me. Money it was obvious they would not take ; 
but in considering what 1 could give them which 
they would value, I recollected their having ad- 
mired one of my epaulettes which had accidentally 
fallen from my shoulder at our first visit, so I pulled 
it from my pocket, and entreated their acceptance 
of it. This, however, they positively refused. But 
conceiving their difficulty might arise from doubts 
as to the division, I began to pull the epaulette to 
pieces, intending to give each one a portion of the 
tassels. This excited an immediate outcry from 
the whole party, a couple of whom rose up, and 
forcibly replaced the epaulette. This amicable 
discussion had the effect of bringing us more inti- 
mately acquainted with each other, than a much 
longer period of the ordinary kind of intercourse 
could possibly have done ; and being still desirous 
of leaving some memorial of our visit, the idea 



60 



CKISA. 



occurred to me of writing down what had passed 
as a record, which in the very improbable event of 
a future voyager coming to this port, might be 
useful to them, The idea once started, I easily 
explained to them by signs that I wished for 
writing materials ; and after a short discussion 
among themselves, they all rose and invited me to 
walk with them to another quarter of the village. 
The way was led by a very formal, perpendicular, 
elderly gentleman, who drew a key from his pocket, 
and holding it up in a significant manner, beckoned 
us to follow him. This personage, who from the 
moment allusion was made to pen and ink, had 
assumed an air of vast consequence, proved to be 
the schoolmaster of the village, and under his 
pilotage we proceeded to the school, where our 
preceptor having lighted a candle, soon brought 
all that was wanted. A fiat plate of stone hollow- 
ed out like a saucer, being first rubbed with Indian 
ink, a brush similar to what we use in painting was 
put into my hands by the dominie, who was quite 
enchanted with his new pupil. A long slip of 
paper being next laid before me, I was desired by 
the master to proceed, while he took his station by 
my side, and arranged his friends round the tabic, 
so that every one could get a sight of the strange 
hieroglyphics I was making. I merely wrote in a 
few words, an account of the adventure of the loss 
and recovery of the watch, to which I added my 
opinion of the honesty and kindness of the people, 
together with a request to any future visiter to 
whom the paper might chance to be intelligible, 
that he would do the worthy inhabitants justice, 
and not be guided, in describing the national 
character, by the hasty and sweeping prejudice 



CHINA. 



61 



which condemns a whole nation for the vices of 
one sea-port. 

The writing being finished, we rose and looked 
about the school-room, which was large and airy. 
In every village however small which we visited in 
China, there was invariably a school where both 
reading and writing were taught to boys ; but I 
do not recollect that we ever saw any girls at 
school on these occasions. 

As the path which led to the beach from the 
school-house was rather steep and rugged, the 
Chinese, affecting to fear that we should tumble 
down, insisted upon encumbering us with help, 
and taking us by the hands, conducted us slowly 
and cautiously along. Escorted in this ridiculous 
way by the whole party, we reached the boat, 
where the natives pressed our hands between 
theirs, and took leave of us in a manner expressive 
of the heartiest good will. Our friends then joined 
a considerable number of the villagers assembled 
on the top of the sea bank, and called out, as we 
shoved off, with one voice, some words in Chinese, 
which, although we did not understand them, cer- 
tainly sounded most kindly. 

Next day, the man who had restored the watch 
came on board the Lyra, bringing with him his two 
brothers. Even now, when he was unobserved, 
we could not prevail upon him to receive anything 
as a reward for his honesty, although the interpre- 
ter explained to him again and again our wishes 
on the occasion. He either was, or seemed to be^ 
unconscious that he had done anything remarkable, 
observing, as we imagined, that if he were, as we 
said, an honest man, his reward would be else 
where. 



6 2 



CHINA. 



On the 29th of August we landed, and walked 
for many miles over the country without meeting 
any interruption. On the contrary we were in- 
vited by the inhabitants to enter many of the houses, 
where they gave us the never-failing tea. and offer- 
ed us pipes and fruit wherever we went. In the 
course of this most interesting ramble, we were at- 
tracted by the well-known hum to a school, which 
the master, who came out to the door, begged us 
to enter. Every thing within was remarkably neat 
and clean, and the room well ventilated ; but the 
day was very hot. and one of the scholars, obser- 
ving Mr. Clifford fanning himself with his hat, left 
his seat, and presented him with his fan ; at the 
same time, turning round, he gave me his book, 
opened I suppose at the place of the lesson. The 
whole school were then ordered to read at once, 
during which the master appeared to have the 
faculty of distinguishing any voice which was in 
error ; a mode of teaching, it may be observed, 
universal from all time over the east, but only re- 
cently introduced from that hemisphere into this 
country, and I believe with much effect. 

The women were at first rather shy. and retreat- 
ed within doors as soon as we approached. By 
and by they gained confidence, upon seeing that 
we meant harm to no one ; and before our walk 
was half over, we were frequently accosted by par- 
ties of two and three curious damsels, whose won- 
der was greatly excited by an investigation of our 
habiliments. 

Many of these women, but not all of them, had 
the well-known small feet, the peculiar barbarism 
of the country ; but prepared as we were by draw- 
ings and descriptions to expect this remarkable de- 



ibrmity, the actual sight of it caused a feeling of 
disgust which I shall not attempt to describe. At 
a subsequent period of the voyage, when at Can- 
ton, I made many inquiries among the Chinese 
who spoke English, respecting this preposterous 
custom. I learned from one intelligent man, that 
the age of four was the usual time for commen- 
cing the horrid ceremony of binding up the wretch- 
ed children's feet ; and he showed me the manner 
in which it was done. The toes are forcibly bent 
under the foot, in which position they are confined 
by a silk band three inches wide, and two or three 
yards long. My informant told me that he had 
four daughters, all of whom suffered so much on 
these occasions, that he could not bear to hear 
their cries, and being unable to relieve or to con- 
sole them, still less to exempt them from this vile 
mutilation, he was obliged to banish himself from 
home for more than a month, when the season 
for tormenting one of his children arrived. He 
bitterly deplored the total absence of any free will 
to depart from the established customs of the Em- 
pire. 

In the course of the day, I landed my instru- 
ments, measured a base, and surveyed the harbour, 
besides taking the sun's altitude at noon, without 
the slightest opposition on the part of the natives ; 
which T mention merely to show, that in places re- 
mote from Canton, where it is the policy of the 
local authorities to discourage all inquiry, there is 
not naturally any jealousy or apprehension of 
strangers. Some of these observations I made un- 
der the very walls of a mud fort, the defences of 
which consisted of two old matchlocks fixed as 
wall pieces, and six warriors armed with bows and 



COREA. 



arrows, while the commander, a jolly Tartar Man- 
darin, sat on the rampart, with his gilt button 
shining" above his cap, and a long pipe in his 
mouth, grinning with delight and surprise at the 
sight of the quicksilver in the artificial horizon. It 
is true, I conciliated his good will by presenting 
him with an old sabre, in return for which, he de- 
spatched one of the garrison on board my ship with 
two fowls and a duck, two fans, a pipe, and a small 
parcel of tobacco. 

In the evening, we sailed from the bay of Oei- 
hai-oi, carrying with us a very favourable impres- 
sion of the Chinese character. Our next object 
was to visit the coast of Corea, in order to fill up, 
with an examination of that unknown country, the 
interval during which the embassy was likely to be 
engaged in China. We steered, accordingly, di- 
rectly east, along the parallel of 38 degrees of 
north latitude, without seeing any land till the 
morning of the third day afterwards. 



CHAPTER III. 

ARRIVAL ON THE COAST OF COREA SIR JAMES 

HALL'S GROUP EXAjIINE HUTTON's ISLAND ONE 

OF THE COREAN ARCHIPELAGO UNSOCIABLE 

CHARACTER OF THESE ISLANDERS. 

When the day broke, on the 1st of September, 
1816, we expected to have found ourselves close 
to the shore, but no land could be seen from the 
deck ; and it was not until the sun rose that the 
look-out man at the mast-head could distinguish a 



faint blue ridge, lying at a great distance to the 
eastward. The announcement of land being in 
sight is at all times an enlivening sound ; but upon 
this occasion, it carried with it peculiar interest. 
The country we were now steering for was so 
completely unknown that it held no place on our 
charts, except that vague sort of outline w 7 ith 
which the old map-makers delighted to fill up their 
paper, and conceal their ignorance. This practice 
has done great disservice to geography ; because 
the mere embellishments of one fanciful and ori- 
ginal artist of this description become, in the 
hands of a copyist, established landmarks ; and 
thus the error is propugated and repeated till the 
eye grows as familiar with the outline of the un- 
known parts of the earth as with the best surveyed 
coasts. So strongly, indeed, do we learn to asso- 
ciate an idea of reality with what is constantly 
presented to our view, that at first when we come 
to examine the actual state of the fact upon the 
spot, we are perhaps more surprised to find it dif- 
ferent from what is laid down in these imaginary 
maps, than w T e should have been to discover them 
accurate, though this would have been little short 
of a miracle, and the other is the occurrence to 
be looked for. In the case before us, we had soon 
reason to believe ourselves in a region the exclusive 
property of those ingenious map-drawers alluded 
to, who survey the world in their closet ; for on 
approaching the land, and making observations to 
ascertain our true place, we discovered that ac- 
cording to one authority, we were sailing far up in 
the country, over imaginary forests and cities ; and 
according to another, the most honest author 
arnonsr them, our course lav directlv through the 

5* 



6€ 



UGHEA. 



body of a goodly elephant, placed in the centre of 
a district of country in token of the maker's can- 
did confession of ignorance. From this time, for 
many weeks forward, we shut up our Atlases. 
Neptunes, and other nautical authorities, and trust- 
ed solely to our own resources ; or according to 
the professional phrase, to lead, latitude, and look- 
out ; though, in truth, it was only the first and last 
that we had to depend upon, it being useless to 
know the latitude of places as yet laid down on 
no chart. 

By nine o'clock in the morning, we were not 
far from a group of three high islands, cultivated 
in the lower ranges next the sea, and wooded to 
the very summits. The fields were divided, as in 
China, by stone walls very rudely built ; but we 
missed the extreme nicety in dressing and laying 
out the ground so conspicuous in that agricultural 
country. As all places were alike to us, and 
equally unknown, we steered for the nearest island, 
the most southern of the group, and came to an 
anchor about noon in a fine bay, sheltered from all 
winds except the south. The meridian observa- 
tion placed these islands in 37° 50' north latitude, 
and our chronometers made them in 1 24° 50' east 
longitude. 

Our anchor had scarcely reached the ground, 
when a small boat was discovered paddling off to 
us full of people, and on looking more attentively, 
we saw a village in a little nook at the north-west- 
ern side of the bay. The natives came boldly on 
till within about fifty yards of us, when they lay 
upon their oars to take a more leisurely survey 
before they ventured nearer. The result appear- 
ed not to be such as to encourage farther proceed- 



t/OBEA. 67 

iugs, for they would not come alongside, although 
we made all the signs we could think of to per- 
suade them. Our only resource, therefore, was to 
man our own boats and pay the first visit ourselves, 
As we rowed towards the shore, the boat turned 
back likewise, and followed us as fast as possible 
to the village. The inhabitants, who received us 
with looks of distrust and alarm, were evidently 
uneasy at our landing, for they were crowded 
timorously together like so many sheep. Having 
tried every art to reassure them, but in vain, we 
determined to leave our unsociable acquaintances, 
and without waiting for an invitation, to take a 
look at the village. This measure elicited some- 
thing like emotion in the sulky natives, several of 
whom stepped forward, and placing themselves 
between us and the houses, made very unequivo- 
cal signs for us to return to our boats forthwith. 
We persevered, however, and continued to ad- 
vance, till a couple of stout fellows fairly took us 
by the shoulders, and turning us round, pushed us 
very rudely in the direction we came from. There 
is no saying exactly how far our forbearance might 
have endured, had the natives proceeded to carry 
the joke much farther ; but as our object was by 
all means to conciliate their good will, we took 
their incivility pleasantly, affecting not to under- 
stand their wishes to get rid of us altogether, but 
pretending to suppose they merely desired us to 
avoid the village. We therefore altered our course, 
and began to climb the bill which rose on the 
north-eastern side of the Bay. 

There was nothing in the appearance of these 
islanders which we recognised as Chinese, in dress, 
language, or appearance, and in their manners 



68 COKE A. 

there was none of that courtesy which we met 
with every where in China. It was at once quite 
evident indeed that they were a much ruder people. 
Their colour was a dark copper, and the expres- 
sion of their countenances, though certainly rather 
forbidding, was not as some of our party described 
it savage : I think this epithet much too strong, 
yet there was undoubtedly something wild about 
them, though not amounting to ferocity. They 
were dressed mostly in a loose white frock, barely 
reaching to the knees, made of an extremely 
coarse material, apparently grass-work ; below 
which the legs were covered with wide trowsers of 
the same stuff ; on their feet were tied sandals, 
made of rice-straw, plaited into the thickness of 
half an inch, and bound to the feet by thongs, 
the only neat article in the whole dress. Their 
hair, which was black and glossy, was twist- 
ed into a curious conical bunch, or spiral knot, on 
the top of the head, and there was not the least 
appearance of the Tartar tuft. Two or three of 
their number, who seemed principal persons, wore 
vast hats, the brims of which extended a foot and 
a half in all directions, so as completely to shade 
the body of the wearer. The top or crown, on 
the other hand, w T as out of all proportion small, 
being no larger than just to fit the top-knot of hair, 
which stood eight or nine inches above the head. 
This strange covering, which looked more like an 
umbrella than a hat, appeared to be made of horse- 
hair, varnished over ; its texture was open, and 
the whole quite light, being tied under the chin by 
a band of oval red and yellow beads. 

Though it was at first a little vexatious to dis- 
cover that our Chinese interpreter did not under- 



COKE A. 



stand a word these people said, it certainly added 
to that adventurous sort of interest which belongs 
to travelling in regions where the inhabitants differ 
in every respect from those we have seen before. 
It was like being transported to some other planet^ 
where nothing existed in common with our previ- 
ous knowledge. Every thing we saw was strange 
to our eyes, and we felt certain that each fresh step 
we took in the voyage was to prove equally fertile 
in unknown scenes and novel incidents ; it was im- 
possible, in short, to go wrong ; a new world was 
all before us where to choose, and if we failed to 
derive instruction and pleasure from what we saw, 
the fault was our own ; the materials for both lay 
thickly around us. 

Our next object, seeing that we could open no 
useful communication with the natives, was to look 
about in order to ascertain if the main land, called 
in the Jesuit's map Corea, could anywhere be dis- 
tinguished. With this intention we commenced 
climbing the hill, which labour, by no means tri- 
fling, was lightened by the discovery of a small 
winding path, not unlike a sheep-track, though we 
saw no animals of this description. From the top 
of the peak which rises in the centre of the island, 
there could just be discovered what was supposed 
to be the continent, at a great distance off, between 
which and the spot upon which we stood lay a 
countless number of islands of all sizes and forms ; 
some clad with foliage, and others quite bare and 
rocky. The temperature of the air, which below 
bad been intolerably hot, was here comparatively 
cool and refreshing ; and as we found a rich mat- 
ting of grass spread on the summit, with here and 
there a sweet-scented shrub, we were tempted to 



TO COllEA. 

prolong our stay ; and having taken the precaution 
to bring our dinner with us, remained for upwards of 
an hour, enjoying the splendid prospect opened for 
the first time to European eyes. 

The world, of late years, has been so industri- 
ously beat up by voyagers and travellers, that it 
becomes no easy matter to light upon any spot re- 
specting which nothing whatsoever shall have been 
told before ; and I find it difficult to describe the 
sensation of pleasure excited by the consciousness 
of being the first to witness so stupendous a scene 
as this multitude of unexplored islands presented. 
I could observe, however, that this circumstance 
affected the individuals of our party very differently. 
Some who were elevated by it to a high degree of 
excitement, were not satisfied with anything short 
of the most rapturous expression. Others seemed 
careless of the thing itself, but were proud of it as 
ii rare exploit in travelling, and took occasion to 
crow, as they expressed it, over their absent friends 
on the embassy, who, poor people, merely saw the 
interior of China, a country traversed repeatedly 
by Europeans, while it was their more favoured 
lot, they said, to be classed among original disco- 
verers. There were some, too, who felt nothing 
at all about the matter, but whose awkward at- 
tempts to imitate the enthusiasm of the others were 
sufficiently ludicrous. 

We varied the road on returning, by striking out 
of the path by which we had climbed up, and paid 
somewhat dearly for our enterprise, by scratches 
and bruises among a brushwood of prickly pears 
and brambles, growing on a surface of steep rocks, 
broken across by frequent ravines on the northern 
side of the island. In process of time, by hard 



COBEA. 



71 



scrambling, we came once more in sight of the vil- 
lage, lying immediately at the base of a cliff, over 
the brink of which we could peep down and see 
what was going on, without being ourselves per- 
ceived. The women, none of whom had been 
seen previously, were now discovered before the 
doors of the cottages engaged in husking rice, by 
beating it in great wooden mortars. Most of them 
supported children on their backs, whose little 
heads wagged to and fro by the motion of the 
pounding operation ; but habit had probably re- 
conciled these little wretches to this rude species 
of cradle, for they appeared fast asleep. Whilst 
we were thus occupied in stealing a view of the 
ladies, all of them, as if by one consent, threw 
down their pounding implements and hurried off to 
their huts like rabbits in a warren. For a minute 
or two we were at a loss to conjecture the cause 
of this sudden movement ; till one of the frigate's 
boats was observed to row round the point forming 
the western side of the Bay. No more was seen 
of the women ; for when we clambered down the 
rocks and reached the village, the men and the 
children alone were thereto receive us. Enough, 
however, was discovered of these timorous damsels 
to satisfy us that their feet were not mutilated on 
this island, as in China. The natives were now, 
in a slight degree, more friendly, or rather less un- 
friendly, than they had been at our first landing ; 
they permitted us to walk through the village un- 
molested, but would not suffer us to enter a single 
house. The walls of these wretched abodes were 
ill constructed of canes plastered over with mud, 
and were not built in straight lines, but in curves, 
and all at different angles. They were thatched 



72 



COBEAr 



with reeds held down by straw ropes, and quite 
destitute of neatness, order, or cleanliness, the 
spaces between the huts being choked up with 
piles of dirt and puddles of dirty water. The val- 
ley, at the end of which this comfortless village was 
situated, possessed considerable beauty, though not 
thickly wooded: it was cultivated in the lower 
parts with millet and buck-wheat; tobacco also 
was growing in great abundance. 

In our hasty passage among the houses, for 
there was little attempt at a street, we saw several 
bullocks, and a great supply of poultry, but no in- 
ducement could prevail on the natives to sell or ex- 
change one of them. They held in no estimation 
our dollars and gold money ; and nothing else that 
we offered them appeared to possess value in their 
eyes except wine-glasses ; but even of this solitary 
taste we could scarcely take advantage. One of 
the principal persons, or a man whom we assumed, 
to be such from the dimensions of his hat, looked 
so wistfully at a claret-glass during a display which 
was made of the contents of our pic-nic basket to 
entertain the natives, that we prevailed upon him 
to accept it. We were now in hopes, when the 
ice had been broken, that we should commence a 
traffic. But in a few minutes the same native 
came back, and without any ceremony thurst the 
glass again into the basket, and walked off, ac- 
companied by all the party except one man, who 
the moment the angle of a rock concealed him 
from the view of his companions, eagerly pointed 
to a tumbler in use at the moment to lift water 
from a spring, and having carefully hid it in his bo- 
som* returned to the village by another road. 



COKE A. 



evidently apprehensive of being detected by his 
countrymen. 

It is scarcely fair, perhaps, to judge of people 
upon so short an acquaintance, at a moment, too, 
when with some reason they might be under the 
influence of alarm at so unusual a visit. The same, 
however, might be said of other people equally 
ignorant of foreigners ; but I certainly never en- 
countered, during any voyage, people more reso- 
lutely unsociable than these islanders. A disdain- 
ful sort of sulky indifference, rather than any di- 
rect ill-will, was the most obvious trait in their de- 
portment. They were very rude to us, it is true, 
and lost no opportunity of suggesting the fitness 
of our immediate departure. It seemed always 
irksome to them to take any pains to comprehend 
our signs, and often, when our meaning was made 
clear to them, they treated it with the most pro- 
voking cuntempt. On one occasion, I tried for a 
considerable time to induce an elderly man of the 
party to let me have a singular kind of rake which 
he carried in his hand ; but he would accept no- 
thing in exchange ; and at last finding that I per- 
sisted, he laughed heartily for a moment, and then 
as if repenting of being betrayed into good-humour, 
placed it in my hands, and gave me a violent push 
from him, accompanying this insulting action by a 
loud angry speech, doubtless not more civil, follow- 
ed by many abundantly significant gestures, imply- 
ing that the sooner 1 took to my boat, and left him 
and his inhospitable island, the better be would be 
pleased. In this unkindly sentiment all his com- 
panions heartily joined, so that every one was ex- 
erting his ingenuity in attempts to get rid of us. 
One man in his anxiety to explain that we could 



74 



COREA. 



not do a more acceptable thing than proceed to 
sea, caught hold of a scrap of paper which fell from 
one of our sketch-books, and lifting up a piece of 
drift-wood from the beach, placed the paper across 
it like a sail, then blew upon it to make us observe 
that the wind was in a right direction. The little 
boys and girls, who indeed were our only friends, 
crowded round, apparently sensible of our atten- 
tions ; for they were soon quite at their ease with 
us. The same cordiality on the part of the chil- 
dren prevailed every where we went to, however 
uncourteous the reception of the parents might be. 

In the charts which were constructed of our dis- 
coveries in this quarter, Captain Maxwell named 
these islands Sir James Hall's Group, in compli- 
ment to my father, then President of the Royal So- 
ciety of Edinburgh ; the idea being suggested to 
him by observing elsewhere a cluster of islands 
named after Sir Joseph Banks. 

At eight o'clock in the evening, the ships weigh- 
ed anchor, and stood to the south-eastward. We 
were utterly uncertain what was to be met with 
next; but every one was in high spirits, at the 
prospect of encountering new scenes and new peo- 
ple. After sailing for a considerable distance in 
the dark, it became expedient to anchor, as we 
knew not whether we were far from land, or close 
to it. When a cast of the lead was taken, it was 
discovered that we were in eighty fathoms water ; 
notwithstanding which Captain Maxwell determin- 
ed to remain where he was. It is not very com- 
mon to anchor in such great depths, from twenty 
to thirty fathoms being generally considered deep 
water ; but, during this voyage, we practised it 
constantly, with the greatest effect ; and 1 mention 



CORE A. 7 5 

the circumstance, as its utility and convenience 
may not suggest themselves, or possibly may be as 
little known to some other professional men, as 
they certainly were previously to me. In unknown 
seas, especially in coral latitudes, nothing can be 
more dangerous, or more harrassing.to an officer, 
than navigating at night. The next moment may 
place the ship on a reef, or what is very common, 
the ship may be drifted, by the current, past the 
object in view, and the labours of the precious day- 
light be all lost during the darkness. Against such 
evils, the practice of anchoring, if the water does 
not much exceed a hundred fathoms in depth, is a 
complete security. A ship rides more easily, even 
in exposed situations, under such circumstances, 
from the long scope, and consequent greater elas- 
ticity of the cable, which is also less liable to be 
cut than in shallow water. The confidence and 
the security thus given, afford an ample compen- 
sation for the trouble of getting the anchor up 
again from its deep bed in the ocean. 

While treating of technical details, I may per- 
haps be allowed to mention another practical de- 
vice, which, though not new, is • certainly very lit- 
tle used, but was found highly advantageous on 
this occasion. It is common, when sailing along 
coasts, or when it is necessary to anchor frequent- 
ly, to lower the yards, square them, and furl the 
sails, as often as the anchor is let go. Habit has 
made this almost an essential point in seamanship. 
The practice with us was never to lower or square 
the yards on any occasion, unless forced to do so 
by the violence of the wind ; but merely to clew 
the sails up, and if required to furl them aloft. The 
advantages of this were, that without a moment's 



'76 



CORE A. 



delay, with a few hands, and in the darkest night, 
sail could be remade on the ship. In the usual 
routine of a man-of-war's duties, this practice 
Would be considered exceedingly slovenly ; but on 
the present service it was of great consequence, 
not only in rendering the ships more efficient, but 
by essentially saving the wear and tear of the ropes 
and sails, an object of vital importance, when so 
completely removed, as we were, beyond the reach 
of dock-yards, and ether places of re-equipment. 

In sailing along these unknown seas, and more 
particularly when threading our course among 
rocky islands, or when coasting past shores of whose 
nature we were entirely ignorant, my little brig, 
which drew only twelve feet water, was sent about 
half a league a-head, to sound the way, and to look 
out for dangers. In general it was found sufficient 
in clear weather, to keep the sounding-lines per- 
petually going, and to station a midshipman aloft, 
with a glass at his eye, to assist the ordinary look- 
out-men placed at the mast-heads and fore-yard 
arm. But when the weather became hazy, or it 
was thought necessary to carry the ships into situ- 
ations peculiarly suspicious, a boat was sent for- 
ward to pioneer the course, even for the Lyra. 
In this way we were enabled to visit in safety ma- 
ny places that must have been inaccessible, or ex- 
tremely dangerous to a ship like the Alceste, what- 
ever degree of vigilance might have been used. 
This service was at times a very fatiguing and anx- 
ious one ; but on the other hand the interest ex- 
cited by it was unceasing, and for ever varying. 
At first our ignorance of the peculiar kind of navi- 
gation, and ther apparent dangers which beset it, 
rendered the anxiety insupportably great, and the 



CORE A. 



I i 



degree of watchfulness indispensably necessary for 
the safety of the ship, almost too much for the bo- 
dily frame. But after a little practice, most of this 
apprehension vanished, notwithstanding the causes 
of alarm having greatly increased. The habit of 
taking much rest in a short time was also soon ac- 
quired ; so that the fatigue and anxiety, instead of 
augmenting with the occasion, often became less 
as the difficulty and the sources of real apprehen- 
sion became greater. In point of fact the risk of 
shipwreck, to which we were constantly exposed^ 
though at the beginning of the voyage it affected 
every one on board pretty much alike, in a few days 
became so familiar that every trace of reflection 
about it was removed from the thoughts of ail but 
one person on board. The load of his cares, in- 
deed, are in general rather increased than lightened 
by the universal indifference of those around him, 
who, though of course quite as much concerned in 
the result, are unquickened in their vigilance by 
high responsibility, and whose duties, therefore, 
naturally become mere matters of routine, very far 
from commensurate with that anxiety, which can 
be felt by the captain alone. 

The tendency of strict discipline, such as pre- 
vails on board ships of war where almost every 
act of a man's life is regulated by the orders of 
his superior, is to weaken the faculty of indepen- 
dent thought ; and on all ordinary occasions this 
answers extremely well. But when the ship is 
placed in circumstances where success depends on 
the individual reflection of those who have been 
previously taught not to think for themselves, but 
to act solely at the suggestion of other minds, this 

mechanical principle is found to be a serious defect 

7* 



COEEA. 



in the system. I have seen occasions, when a ship 
was sailing among ice-bergs in a dark night and 
stormy weather, or among rocks and sand-banks, 
when her safety depended entirely on individual 
vigilance — yet not a soul on board could be 
brought to feel the least anxiety, and each man 
and officer, as his turn of duty ceased, rolled into 
bed, and was asleep the next moment, leaving the 
waking captain to manage the ship as he best 
could, every one else being quite ready to take 
his chance ; that is to say, never thinking about 
the matter. 

On the morning of the 3d of September, the 
ships again weighed, and stood under all sail to- 
wards the islands, with which the sea to the east- 
ward and southward was thickly studded as far as 
the eye could reach. By two o'clock of this day, 
we had approached the outermost group, and the 
passages among them appearing to be free from 
danger, we sailed through, and anchored in a little 
bight or cove on the eastern side of the largest. 
As these islands lay so close to one another, we 
were obliged to make a zigzag course, in order to 
pass among them, and this winding about brought 
us in sight of a singular-iookif-g cliff, which we 
determined to visit after anchoring. iVccordingly, 
at half past three, as soon as dinner was over, we 
set out to explore the island ; and the geological 
appearances which had engaged our attention at 
some distance, proved in the highest degree cu- 
rious when more closely examined. 

The north-eastern end of this singular island is 
composed of close grained, whitish granite, and 
the middle part of micacious schistus, disposed in 
strata nearly horizontal* but dipping a little to the 



COKEA, 



S. W. This stratified mass is cut across by a gra- 
nite vein or wall, forty feet wide ; from which in- 
numerable lateral veins of all sizes, from three feet 
in width, to the tenth of an inch, are seen to pe- 
netrate the schistus, The strata hereabouts are 
also so much broken and distorted as to leave no 
doubt of the action of some violent force. At no 
great distance from this curious scene, a whin- 
stone dike cuts across the same strata of schistus, 
in a plane nearly at right angles to that of the great 
vein of granite. The strata at this junction are 
considerably bent, but not to the same extent as 
in the vicinity of the granite. On proceeding far- 
ther to the south, about ten or twelve yards from 
the spot last described, stands a high rugged cliff 
of breccia, or pudding-stone, composed of water- 
worn fragments of various rocks, evidently the 
shingle and gravel which at some remote period 
must have formed the bottom of the ocean, though 
now raised several hundred feet above high water 
mark. 

The appearances above described are not given 
as new ; on the contrary, they are familiar to every 
geologist ; and it is on this very account that they 
are mentioned. Humboldt somewhere remarks 
the wonderful uniformity which exists in the rocks 
forming the crust of the globe, and contrasts this 
regularity with the diversity prevailing in every 
other branch of natural history. The truth of this 
remark was often forcibly impressed upon our no- 
tice during the present voyage ; for wherever we 
went, the vegetable, the animal, and the moral 
kingdom, if I may use such an expression, were 
discovered to be infinitely varied : even the aspect 
of the skies was changed, and new constellations 



80 



CORE A. 



and new climates co-operated to make us sensible 
that we were far from home. But on turning our 
eyes to the rocks upon which we were standing, 
we instantly discovered the most exact resem- 
blance to what we had seen elsewhere. 

Captain Maxwell was so highly amused with the 
interests taken by the geologists of our party in 
these scenes, and with the earnest manner in which 
the advocates of the rival theories debated the 
question, each armed with a bag full of appropriate 
specimens, that he determined to christen the isl- 
and after the celebrated Dr. Hutton, of Edinburgh, 
w hose theory he seemed to think the best adapted 
to explain the phenomena before us ; an exercise 
of authority, by the way, which the Wernerian 
combatants took much amiss. 

Whilst the scientific controversy was raging be- 
low, a party of the natives had assembled on the 
edge of one of the cliffs in dispute, and were ta- 
king a share in the discussion, quite as intelligible, 
it was observed by a wag of our party, as the more 
learned argumentation on the beach. Be this as 
it may, the natives appeared greatly incensed at 
our breaking up their rocks at such a rate ; and 
indicated by indignant shouts, and the most signi- 
ficant, though ill-mannered gesticulations, that we 
were far from welcome. As the angle of the cliff 
on which these rude islanders were perched, was 
not less than two hundred perpendicular feet, di- 
rectly over our heads, we thought ourselves fortu- 
nate that they confined themselves to signs and 
clamour, instead of using the more potent argu- 
ment of a shower of stones. 

We considered it prudent, however, not to tempt 
them loo far ; and therefore rowed to a little bay 



CORE A. 



81 



on the western side of the island, where we dis- 
covered a good landing-place, on a smooth beach 
composed of spangles of mica, glistening from end 
to end, in the setting sun. 

The natives had crossed the promontory, and 
were ready to receive us, as we leaped upon the 
wet sand, for it was low water, and oar boat had 
grounded on the shelving beach. We walked 
straight up to the inhabitants, took our hats off, and 
made them a low bow ; upon which, the foremost 
of their number addressed us in a long speech, in 
a tone of voice that was heard on board the ships 
half a mile off. We replied in a more moderate 
key, in English, that we intended no mortal any 
harm, and merely begged leave to walk over the 
island. As this was about as much lost upon them 
as their own harangue had been upon us, a more 
intelligible language was tried, by our walking di- 
rectly along the path towards the brow of the high- 
est hill, a rule, it may be mentioned, which it is 
useful to follow in strange places, that as soon as 
possible a general view of the country may be ob- 
tained ; after which if there be leisure the details 
may be examined. The natives put a negative on 
this resolution, as far as they could, without using 
absolute violence. Sometimes they placed them- 
selves directly across our path ; and sometimes 
bawled in our ears some very angry words, at the 
full stretch of their voices, apparently impressed 
with the belief that mere loudness would make 
their words more intelligible. It is more than 
probable that these people had never before met 
with any one who did not understand them ; and 
it may be reasonably supposed they ascribed our 
inattention to deafness. To a person who is un* 



82 



COBEA. 



conscious of the existence of any language but his 
own. the circumstance of meeting people who do 
not comprehend him, and whom he does not 
himself understand, must be a very perplexing 
phenomenon. To us, who are familiar with the 
idea of many languages, this dilemma is scarcely 
intelligible ; but many incidents led us to believe, 
that the people whom we met w ith on this coast 
were utterly ignorant, not only of other languages, 
but of the fact that any such existed at all. 

One very busy personage now took his station 
before us, and baring his neck, drew his fan from 
end to end along his throat ; and then, with no 
great gentleness, went through a similar ceremony 
with the necks of his- visiters. Hereupon a great 
speculation was set afloat among us, as to the im- 
port of this significant gesture. One thing was 
plain, it had reference to cutting off heads ; but 
our party was equally divided in opinion as to 
whose heads were to suffer. Some thought the 
natives were in alarm for themselves, while others 
considered this ugly sign as a threat to us. We 
went on, however, till we reached the summit of 
the island. From this spot, a small village was 
discovered at the distance of half a mile, built on 
the side of a hill, at the base of which lay a small 
creek, just large enough to afford shelter for two 
or three fishing-boats. The sea-breeze, which had 
never been strong during the day, now gradually 
expired as the sun went down, and was succeeded 
by a sultry calm. It would have been delightful 
to have sat for half an hour in one of the houses, 
or to have bathed in the little stream which we 
saw running close by the village. But upon the 
first motion we made in that direction, the natives 



CORE A, 



83 



raised such a shout, and looked so much distressed, 
that we gave up the contest, and turned towards 
our boats. All was now changed ; instead of ob- 
structing our way, and roaring in our ears, they 
were all smiles and assistance : a man on each 
side seized our hands, and warning us of every ob- 
stacle, escorted us along the path, and over the 
slippery stones on the sea bank, with a degree of 
assiduity extremely ludicrous. Sometimes this 
friendly aid took the shape of a push, and some- 
times of a pull, both sufficiently expressive of anxi- 
ety to see us depart. On reaching the boats, four 
or five athletic handsome-looking fellows stripped 
off their clothes, and leaping into the water, caught 
hold of the gunwale of the boat, ready to launch 
us from their inhospitable shore with as much mo- 
mentum as possible. 

There was but little difference between the dress' 
of the people of Button's Island and those we 
visited on the first of September. The greater 
number dressed their hair in the conical top-knot 
before described ; but in some instances it was left 
to fly loose, in a wild-looking style ; in others con- 
fined by a narrow gauze fillet, on the side of which 
was wrought a small star-like ornament ; but not 
one of their beards and whiskers had ever known 
a razor. Every person we saw smoked from a long 
hollow reed or cane, having a small hole bored 
at one side, near the extremity, like the stop of a 
flute, capable of holding a minute portion of tobac- 
co ; a large gaudy-coloured paper fan carried in the 
hand completed the equipment. The children were 
amazingly diverted with us, and showed none of 
the surliness of the grown-up people, but examined 
our clothes with great attention ; occasionally 



34 



COKE A » 



manifesting, their surprise by the most boisterous 
shouts. This admiration became quite general 
when a watch was displayed. By their manner of 
inspecting it, we conjectured that its use was utter- 
ly unknown ; one of the seniors, however, showed 
that he comprehended the use of the seals, by 
pressing one of them for some time on his copper- 
coloured hand, and exhibiting the impression to 
his companions. While the watch was under re- 
view, and just as their shouting had subsided into 
unaffected and silent admiration, one of our party 
indiscreetly fired his fowling-piece at a bird in the 
air. In all probability, it was the first discharge 
of fire-arms they had ever heard ; tor they flew 
back several paces, like a shoal of fish when a 
stone is cast among them. This unlucky incident 
removed the only chance we had of gaming their 
confidence ; for even the watch had now lost its 
attraction ; and we re-embarked iiiuch entertained 
with the whole scene, but somewhat provoked with 
ourselves, for the small impression our civilized 
manners bad made upon these priumive islanders. 



COftEA. 



85 



CHAPTER IV. 

VISIT A SHALLOW HARBOUR ON THE MAIN LAND OF 

COREA INTERVIEW WITH A VENERABLE CHIEF 

HIS RECEPTION AND BEHAVIOUR ON BOARD THE 

SHIPS PERTINACITY WITH WHICH THE INHABIT- 
ANTS RESIST THE ENTRANCE OP STRANGERS AD- 
VENTURES AMONG THE AMHERST ISLES LEAVE 

COREA. 

During all the ensuing night it was a dead calm, 
and the sea as smooth as a sheet of glass ; a gentle 
current glided silently past us to the southward, 
but without causing the least ripple on the surface. 
At nine o'clock we got under weigh, to be ready 
for the Seabreeze, which soon came to refresh us, 
well nigh burned up by the rays of the sun blazing 
both from above, and by reflection from the bright 
mirror round about. On the breeze catching us, 
we stood boldly on, right in the midst of the islands, 
and in less than an hour the view of the main ocean 
was so completely shut out, that we lost all trace 
of the track by which the ships had entered this 
fairy archipelago. Our navigators and surveyors 
were busily employed in taking an account of the 
most remarkable of these islands. But as this was 
soon found to be a hopeless task, attempts were 
made to jot down on the charts at least each dif- 
ferent cluster or distinct group : at last even this 
was abandoned in perfect despair ; and it was re- 
luctantly confessed, that many months perhaps 
years of labour would be required to form a correct 
map of this magnificent scene. It was one, how- 
ever, so well calculated to rouse the attention of 
8 



COKEA. 



the most unthinking person among us, that even 
the seamen, whose habits dispose them very little 
to observe what is passing around them, were quite 
astonished. 

About an hour after taking the meridian obser- 
vation, it was discovered that we were drawing in 
with the main land ; and in a short time villages, 
single houses, and cultivated fields, were distin- 
guished along the shore. A broad belt of enclo- 
sed and cultivated country extended to a conside- 
rable distance from the sea, along the sides of a 
range of mountains lying parallel to the coast. 
No harbour nor break in the land was visible till 
about three o'clock, when a projecting point came 
in sight, on rounding which a noble bay was dis- 
covered, indenting the land for five or six miles. 
On sailing farther in, however, it proved a mere 
shallow basin, and we therefore let go our anchors 
far out in five fathoms water. As the ships pass- 
ed the promontory, a crowd of the natives came 
down to the water's edge, and hailed us with loud 
and angry shouts, the ungracious tone of which 
was becoming by this time but too familiar to our 
ears. 

As soon as the ships were secured, Captain 
Maxwell, Mr. Clifford, and I proceeded in one of 
the Alceste's boats towards a considerable village, 
or rather town, in the north-western angle of the 
bay. On drawing near it was discovered that the 
whole population were in a commotion, much re- 
sembling the sort of bustle into which a colony of 
ants are thrown by the thrust of a spade. This sen- 
sation extended to a fleet of boats riding at anchor 
off the town, the crews of which were busily em- 
ployed weighing anchor, and getting their oars to 



COREA, 



pass. Before we could reach the landing-place, 
eight or ten of the largest vessels were seen steer- 
ing towards us, escorted by more than a hundred 
canoes and small boats bustling and paddling along 
in tumultuous procession. Every boat, even the 
smallest that had a mast at all, was decked out 
with long streamers, and crowded almost to sink- 
ing with people. On arriving within a couple of 
boats' lengths of the headmost vessel, our ears 
were saluted with sounds not unlike those of the 
bagpipe, which issued from three pipes, or trum- 
pets, played by men raised high in the bow of the 
boat. In the middle part of the deck between 
the masts, we discovered a huge blue um- 
brella, held by two men over the head of a very 
important-looking personage, seated cross-legged 
on a mat, surrounded by attendants in richly- 
coloured dresses. * The chief himself, for such 
he was dubbed the moment we beheld him, is wor- 
thy of a particular description. His principal gar- 
ment consisted of a showy robe, or mantle, of blue 
satin, in whose ample folds he was well nigh lost ; 
in front hung down his venerable white beard, as 
far as a rich embroidered girdle, confining the robe. 
On his head was placed a hat of a size in propor- 
| tion with that of the other parts of his dress ; the 
rim measured not less than three feet, over which 
rose a very small peaked crown. In his right 
hand he wielded, with an air of mighty importance, 
a slender black rod tipped with silver, from which 
hung at one end a small slip of black crape, and a 
narrow leather thong was tied to the other end— 
symbolical, it was thought, of the summary course 
of justice in Corea. In his left hand he grasped 
between the thumb and little finger his pipe, trim,- 



88 



C0EEA. 



med, from time to time by an attendant, stationed 
for that purpose close to his elbow, who took the 
tobacco from a silver box carried by a little boy. 

As there could be no doubt that this was the 
principal person, we rowed straight alongside, and 
stepped on board his boat to pay our respects. 
He answered our salutations with grave civility, 
but neither rose nor asked us to sit down. The 
music now stopped squeaking, and the universal 
hub-bub that had the instant before prevailed 
among the boats ceased likewise ; the rowers and 
the scullers were all at a stand, and our confer- 
ence commenced, somewhat inauspiciously, by the 
old chief pointing to our boats with his rod of of- 
fice, thereby very clearly giving us to understand 
that we must not stay longer upon his quarter- 
deck. To humour him in this fancy, we immedi- 
ately took our seats again in our own boats ; but 
here our old dilemma arose for want of language. 
We did what we could, however, in the way of 
eigns, first to show our wish to visit the country ; 
and finding our signals either unintelligible or not 
agreeable, we pointed to the Alceste and invited 
him to visit us. This he comprehended much 
better. In the mean time, the other Corean boats, 
some ofthem ten times as large as ours, had gradually 
moved round from the rear, and were' nearly encir- 
cling us. We had arms ready, but it would have 
been easy for these boats, had they been so dispo- 
sed, to have closed upon us. As soon, therefore, 
as we suspected treachery, we pulled off and pre- 
pared for an attack. The old gentleman perceived 
this movement, and being innocent of any hostile 
design, looked about him to discover the cause of 
our apprehension. We explained to him that we 



CORE A. 



preferred an open space to such a crowd of ves- 
sels, upon which he gave orders, which were 
promptly obeyed by the intruding boatmen, w T ho 
hurried back to their stations in an instant. 

The whole procession, like a royal regatta, now 
proceeded slowly towards the Lyra, to the sound 
of the pipes, which began to play the instant the 
boats went on. Captain Maxwell and I rowed to 
one side of the brig, while the chief's boat was 
placed on the other in a very seaman-like style. To 
get on board was not so easy a matter, and it was 
all our discipline could accomplish to keep the 
sailors from laughing at the manner in which the 
old chief got up the gangway, encumbered as he 
was with his immense robes. As the evening was 
fine, we thought it best to entertain our guest on 
the quarter-deck, instead of inviting him to my lit- 
tle cabin, hardly large enough, as some one ob- 
served, to hold the old gentleman's hat. Chairs 
were accordingly brought up, but the chief seemed 
to despise these European inventions, and would 
accept of no accommodation but his own mat. 
Even to this he at first objected, leaving us com- 
pletely perplexed to discover his wishes. It has 
occurred to us since, that the publicity of the con- 
ference may have displeased him, and we regretted 
not having carried him below, however incon- 
venient the accommodation. At length he sat 
down, and immediately the whole of his own crew, 
and the men from about twenty other boats, leaped 
on board in all directions, to assist at the ceremo- 
ny. Some of them climbed into the rigging, oth- 
ers established themselves on the poop, and one 
unbroken line of copper-coloured wondering faces 
was ranged along the hammocks from stem to 
8* 



CORE A. 



stem. When every one was seated, silence and 
something like order was established, and the 
chief, drawing his pipe from his month, and flou- 
rishing his wand, commenced an oration which 
lasted fully five minutes. When he had concluded, 
Captain Maxwell, who had listened with admirable 
gravity and a look of respectful attention, made a 
reply in English, not quite so long, but quite as 
much to the purpose. The chief opened his eyes, 
stared, listened, and looked round to his attend- 
ants, as if to inquire the meaning of all this ; but 
obtaining no satisfaction from the appeal, as they 
all shook their heads, he called to a person who 
seemed to be his secretary, and touching him with 
his rod, made him sit down before him. The sec- 
retary took his place will all due formality, and 
having rubbed his cake of Indian ink upon a neat 
blue stone which he carried with him, drew forth 
his camel-hair brush, and arranging a long scroll 
of paper on his knees, began at the chiefs dicta- 
tion to write a despatch, the by-standers assisting 
from time to time in the composition of this docu- 
ment, which they no doubt thought was to set all 
matters right.' When completed the chief looked 
it over, and then handed it to us. We looked at it 
too, but were obliged to shrug our shoulders, and 
signify our ignorance with the best grace we could. 
The chief was exceedingly provoked, and showed 
by his gestures and the angry tones of his voice 
how stupid he thought us. 

His disappointment and surprise are not so un- 
reasonable as they at first sight may appear. In 
China, Japan, Corea, and at most of the islands of 
those seas, the spoken languages differ so com- 
pletely in sound, that when the several inhabitants 



COKE A. 



m 



of the countries meet, and try to converse, they 
are mutually unintelligible as long as they confine 
themselves to oral communication ; but the instant 
they have recourse to the written character, they 
understand each other perfectly. This written 
language, which is altogether independent of 
sound, is the same in each of the countries alluded 
to, while the spoken language on the contrary is 
different in all of them. It these respects the Ara- 
bic numbers 1, 2, 3, exactly resemble the written 
Chinese characters. There is nothing in these 
symbols by which their pronunciation can be de- 
termined, and in fact every nation of Europe uses 
different words to express them in speech. In Chi- 
na, and the countries adjacent, this principle, with 
us confined to numerals and to algebraic signs, 
extends to the whole language ; and, as a know- 
ledge of reading and writing is very generally dif- 
fused in those countries, it was quite natural that 
the Coreans should be surprised at the ignorance 
of people of our pretensions in other respects. 

As we made no progress in the mutual expres- 
sion of our wishes, we had recourse to a language 
which is pretty well understood all over the world 
— that of the bottle ; and the disturbed features of 
the irritable old chief speedily became smooth, un- 
der the genial influence of our most powerful ally, 
a glass of cherry-brandy. To the Corean boat- 
men, and other villagers who came on board, we 
distributed rum, which as usual made us all good 
friends. The chief alone, however, who seemed 
to be sitting on thorns, was never long satisfied 
with any thing, but was continually ordering and 
counter-ordering his officers and people in the most 
petulant manner. More than once he waved his 



COREA. 



rod, and ordered all hands into the boats, but as 
soon as he turned round, the people leaped on 
board again. One fellow, who probably had got 
double allowance of grog, made a great commo- 
tion behind the chief, where he had stationed him- 
self across the hammocks. The old man after 
bidding him as we supposed hold his tongue, to no 
purpose, ordered him into confinement, and he was 
carried off to the boat. 

The suite of the chief were dressed in loose white 
robes, large hats, wide trowsers tied at the ancle, 
and cotton shoes turned up at the toes. There 
stood also some persons near him, whom we took 
to be his body guard. Of these soldiers, some 
carried nothing but a bow and arrows, whilst others 
were armed with swords. Their head-dress con- 
sisted of a low conical hat, made of thickly-plaited 
grass, on the top of which was fixed a small gilt 
ornament, with a tassel of raw silk, and half a do- 
zen peacock's feathers worked together. 

It had become nearly dark by this time, and mat- 
ters were hanging rather heavy on our hands, when 
the chief ordered his boats to be got ready, and 
called two of his attendants to assist him in rising, 
an operation too undignified it appeared for him 
to attempt alone. In compassion to the old maa's 
difficulty of locomotion, I had set the carpenters to 
work the moment he came on board, to construct 
a platform, along which he now marched out of 
the ship, with much more ease than he had enter- 
ed. He remarked the difference, and seemed 
more pleased with this mark of attention than he 
had been with any thing else we did to accommo- 
date him. So far all seemed well. But there was 
still something amiss, as the boat did not put off* 



COKE A. 



but continued alongside, the old chief sitting stock 
still and silent, with his unlighted pipe in his mouth. 
In utter ignorance of what was expected of us, we 
thought it could do no harm to pay him a visit : 
probably this was what he waited for, since he 
made room for us to sit down on his own mat, and 
then looking round, appeared sorry that he had no- 
thing to entertain us with ; at least we conjectu- 
red that this was the difficulty, and therefore sent 
for a bottle of wine, which the chief no sooner saw, 
than he called for three or four bowls, and made 
his pipe-bearer pour out the wine ; then touching 
the vessels with his rod, made us all drink before 
he would taste a drop. The oddity of his enter- 
taining the company at their own expense seemed 
not to strike him ; on the contrary he did the ho- 
nours with much cheerfulness, and for the first 
time, was quite at his ease. 

After sitting for ten minutes, we took our leave, 
and the Corean boats rowed in the direction of 
the town for about a hundred yards, then suddenly 
turning their heads round, proceeded towards the 
Alceste. As it was now dark, we had not dream- 
ed of more visiting, and being sufficiently tired 
with the day's work, were congratulating our- 
selves with all these ceremonies being at an end, 
and that the remainder of the evening was at our 
own disposal, when it was announced that the ve- 
nerable chief was on his way to the commodore. 
Captain Maxwell by dint of hard rowing reached 
his ship in time to have the quarter-deck and ac- 
commodation ladder lighted up, and every thing ar- 
ranged for the reception of the chief. He was evi- 
dently much struck with the appearance of the 
ship, particularly when he entered the cabin, and 



y4 



CORE A. 



found himself in a large and elegantly-furnished 
apartment. Captain Maxwell showed him the way 
and begged him to sit down, but he would use no- 
thing but his own favourite mat. The sentinel, 
however, at the cabin door had orders to stop 
every one from entering but the chief himself, and 
seeing no reason for admitting the mat-bearer more 
than the others, some minutes elapsed before this 
essential part of his establishment could be found. 
Meanwhile, the old man looked about him, asto- 
nished at the unexpected splendour of the apart- 
ment ; and as Captain Maxwell had changed his 
jacket for a long coat, he did not at first recognize 
him. On discovering his mistake, he laughed for 
the first and I think the only time, and his beha- 
viour afterwards was certainly less constrained. 
He did not relish being left alone with ue, how- 
ever, and seemed ill at ease till the secretary and 
three or four others were called in. 

It appeared that he had forgotten the fate of his 
despatch on board the Lyra, or else he wished once 
more to fathom the depth of our ignorance, pro- 
bably not, conceiving it possible that the owner of 
such a dwelling should be unable to read or write. 
Whatever his reasons might be, he ordered his se- 
cretary to prepare another waiting without delay, 
and as soon as it was examined, handed it with 
great formality to Captain Maxwell. The original 
document is now in my possession, as well as the 
translation, made by the interpreter to the British 
Factory at Canton, which runs thus : — 

u Persons, of what land are you? — of what na- 
tion ? — On account of what business do you come 
hither ? — In the ship are there any literary men. 



CORE A. 



95 



who thoroughly understand, and can explain what 
is written ?" 

We readily conjectured that something to this 
purpose must be the import of the writing : had 
we known it then, however, as correctly as we do 
now, the knowledge would have served us little 
purpose, for we had no means of reply, except in- 
deed to the latter part of the question, which Cap- 
tain Maxwell answered in a manner certainly the 
most effectual that could be devised. He did it, 
however, with so much ceremony, and at the same 
time such perfect gravity, that it was singularly 
ludicrous. Having called for his clerk, he pro- 
ceeded to imitate the chief, and wrote a letter 
w T hich he presented with a low bow. This de- 
spatch was not quite so long as the chiefs, and 
contained simply this : — " I do not understand one 
word that you say." 

The chief not doubting in the least that he 
should understand the writing as soon as he looked 
at it, carefully inspected the paper, and turned it 
first one way and then another, but all to no pur- 
pose. At last he looked towards Captain Maxwell 
with an inquiring air and pointed impatiently to 
the paper. Captain Maxwell took up the chief's 
letter and did exactly the same, implying an equal 
degree of ignorance : but it was not till a consi- 
derable time had elapsed that the chief saw the 
similarity of their predicaments, and finally gave 
up all hopes of communicating by any means but 
signs. 

On turning round, his eye happened to catch a 
mirror which was hanging between the ports, on 
one side. Captain Maxwell took it down and 
placed it in the old man's hands. He seemed 



COKE A. 



mightily pleased with the image which it reflected, 
for he stroked his beard and pulled it from side to 
side for some time with an air of great compla- 
cency. One of the suite, whose curiosity over- 
came his good manners, could not resist the 
temptation, and stealing behind the chief, took a 
sly peep likewise. The appearance of another 
face over his shoulder, completely oversetting the 
chief's good humour, the offender was scolded in 
set terms, and then dismissed the cabin. A simi- 
lar discipline was exerted over the poor secretary. 
w T ho thrust his head between Captain Maxwell and 
his clerk, while they were concocting a reply to 
the letter. Thus scarcely five minutes passed 
over our irritable guest's head, without something 
occurring to discompose him, although we some- 
times suspected this constant exercise of authority 
about trifles, might be assumed merely to impress 
the strangers with an idea of his importance. But 
whether or not this fretfulness was feigned while 
in the cabin, no one could doubt the sincerity of 
his displeasure a minute after he came on the 
quarter-deck to take leave. On passing the gun- 
room skylight, his quick ear caught the sound of 
voices below, and looking down he detected some 
of his people enjoying themselves, and making 
very merry over a bottle of wine with the officers 
of the ship. On his bawling out to them, they 
leaped on their feet, and hurried up the ladder in 
great consternation. The alarm soon spread 
along the lower deck to another jovial party of the 
Coreans, who were carousing with the midship- 
men. 

All over the world it seems to be an English- 
man's maxim to stive his guest more to drink than 



4J0BEA. 



97 



is good for him, and accordingly, most of the Co- 
reans came stumbling up the ladder half tipsy, and 
staggered across the deck, to the great wrath of 
the chief, who disapproved totally of these symp- 
toms of familiarity. The first one o* two who 
made their appearance, bolted over the gangway 
into their boats, and thus eluded the chief's scru- 
tiny ; after which he stationed himself at the 
hatchway, and caught each man as he came up, 
punching him soundly with his little rod in a very 
undignified manner, until the culprit by calling out 
betrayed himself. One poor fellow, the broad 
sleeve of whose robe was filled with biscuits 
given him below, managed to slip past, and run to 
the opposite side of the deck. The chief left his 
post, and set out in chase round the quarter-deck, 
to the unspeakable entertainment of the sailors. 
As the weight of the biscuit retarded the offender's 
speed, he managed, just before the chief reached 
him, to slide his whole cargo into a coil of rope, 
and then surrendered himself prisoner. But the 
old man, catching a lantern from one of the sides- 
men, pointed out the stolen goods with an air of 
great exultation, as a proof of the efficiency of 
his discipline. On finding no more people come 
up, he went down to the main-deck, and by rum- 
maging about under the guns, and among the 
pumps, satisfied himself that no one was conceal- 
ed. At length he took his leave, after inviting us, 
as we thought, to visit him on shore the next day. 

On returning to the Lyra, well tired with the 
day's work, I found about a dozen Corean boats 
anchored in a circle round the brig, but from the 
crews being all asleep, we conjectured they were 
not there for the purpose of watching us. but were 
% 



CORE A. 



expecting the chief to return. We roused them 
up by banging one of their own gongs : and they 
no sooner discovered, by our pointing to the shore 
and making signs, that the man with the large hat 
and long toeard had gone in that direction, than 
they bestirred themselves to get their anchors up, 
and soon left us to ourselves. 

The Corean boats resemble those of China in 
many respects ; their bow and stern, however, are 
not so upright, but project at an angle of thirty 
degrees with the water. The whole cable is 
wound upon a reel turned at the ends by winches, 
and not coiled away as with us. It appears to be 
made of a long grass very neatly twisted. To the 
cable is attached a very primitive description of 
anchor, being merely two bent elbows of a dark 
coloured wood, which sinks in the water, a pro- 
perty, in some instances, assisted by stones fasten- 
ed to the crossing of the flukes and the shank, 
both of which are made of wood. When not 
under sail, these boats are impelled by oars, rude 
in appearance, but effectual enough in practice, 
consisting merely of a pole, to the extremity of 
which a flat circular board is laced by thongs. 
Every boat also carries over her stern, and fre- 
quently on both quarters, a long oar — which serves 
the double purpose of steering, and of skulling, as 
it is technically called, an excellent method of 
giving impulse to large boats, in which the natives 
of China and the adjacent countries excel all other 
nations. This method, by the way, is well worthy 
of imitation in crowded rivers, from its taking up 
literally no room. In the Thames, and in all other 
European, as well as American rivers, the use of 
the skull, if I am not mistaken, is confined almost 



COKE A. 



99 



entirely to small boats. In China I have seen ves- 
sels of more than a hundred tons, propelled rapidly 
by means of several skulls, with four or five men 
to each ; and I am confident it might be usefully 
applied to our river barges, instead of the huge 
sweeps or oars now in use, which not only take up 
unnecessary space, but are not nearly so efficient. 
The Chinese skull, it may be observed, is made to 
work on the smooth top of a nail or bolt, about as 
large as the little finger, the top of which fits into 
a small hollow space cut in the oar, whereas with 
us the skull is made to turn in a nick in the stern. 

At day-break next morning, a considerable 
bustle was observed on shore, and shortly after- 
wards the persevering old chief again embarked 
and rowed to the ships, accompanied by a still 
more numerous escort of boats and people, who 
had assembled during the night from the various 
villages lying^ round the bay. The morning was 
very fine, and nothing could be more brilliant than 
the appearance of this procession, with flags and 
streamers flying from all the masts, and gay crowds 
of people covering every deck. They came slow- 
ly towards us, beating gongs and playing lively 
martial airs on their shrill pipes. The Lyra, hap- 
pening to lie nearest to the shore, was first honour- 
ed with a visit. We determined to entertain our 
guest below upon this occasion, but as the cabin 
was not quite ready for his reception, he was allow- 
ed to walk about the decks, and to examine things 
as he pleased, a degree of liberty for which he 
seemed very grateful. Presently he proposed to 
go below, but on the way down was nearly wedged 
into the hatchway, the opening being barely suf- 
ficient to admit his prodigious hat. If he was di?~ 



COSEA. 



appointed with the confined accommodation, com- 
pared to that of the Alceste, he was too well bred 
to notice such things, and even condescend! to 
sit on a chair, when he saw there was not a °U of 
room for his mat. A pair of globes first attracted 
his attention, with the motion of which he express- 
ed a childish sort of delight. In the same way, 
the pictures in the books amused him, as well as 
the mirrors, spy-glasses, and every thing he saw. 

The chief was accompanied this morning by a 
person, whom, from the richness of his dress, we 
supposed to be a man of rank. He looked, how- 
ever, so unwell, probably from being a little sea- 
sick, that we took it into our heads he must have 
come on board to consult the medical gentlemen. 
The idea was no sooner started than we set about 
confirming ourselves in the mistake, by making 
signs to express illness, and pointing to the cause 
of our anxiety. The poor man, who, from the 
urbanity of his manners, acquired among us the 
name of the Courtier, not knowing what we would 
be at, replied, as people do on such occasions, by 
a civil look. Following up our original idea, the 
doctor was sent for, who felt his pulse, made him 
expose his tongue, and as far as could be accom- 
plished, inquired into his ailments — an absurd 
enough discipline for a man in perfect health. The 
chief meanwhile looked on with great gravity, and 
both he and the patient probably believe to this 
hour that such a ceremonial forms merely a part 
of our established etiquette. 

When the doctor had done, the Courtier was 
freed from farther scrutiny, and he commenced 
examining the books lying on a shelf near him 
with so much apparent interest, that I begged him 



COKEA. 



101 



to accept one. He grasped it with eagerness, and. 
after clasping it to his breast, dropped it cunningly 
into his long sleeve, which, like the same part of a 
monk's dress in Europe, forms a most capacious 
pocket. I had not the least thought of any return 
for this gift ; but a minute afterwards, when the 
old chief's back was turned, the Courtier slipped 
his fan very mysteriously into my hand under the 
table. Seeing that this was to be a private trans- 
action between us, I sent it away with equal 
secrecy by my steward, who was placing the tea- 
things. Unfortunately my precaution was rendered 
fruitless, for on the cabin becoming exceedingly 
hot, I rang and desired my servant to bring me a 
fan, and he not knowing there was any mystery, 
naturally brought back the Courtier's present. 
The stern old chief recognized it immediately, and 
rose half off his chair, his great hat fluttering like 
a flag in the wind with rage, while the poor Courtier 
stood trembling from top to toe, ready to sink into 
the ground with fear. I interfered and endeavoured 
to explain, that if there was any one in fault it was 
not the Courtier. But it was a long time before 
the old gentleman was appeased and resumed his 
seat, allowing the Courtier to keep his book, while 
I carefully locked up the fan. 

Breakfast not being quite ready, our restless 
visiter became desirous of seeing more of the ship, 
and proceeded towards the deck ; but happening 
to discover as he passed the officers sitting at their 
table, he turned to the left, into the gun-room, in- 
stead of going up the ladder. Without waiting 
for any invitation, he steered straight into the first- 
lieutenant's cabin, which he examined minutely. 
His curiosity in these matters induced me to in- 
9* 



102 



COllEA. 



vite him to go along the lower deck — a proposal 
which delighted him greatly. But it was impossi- 
ble to keep on the state-hat during this adventure, 
the deck being only five feet high ; so that at 
length it came oft' to the old boy's evident morti- 
fication. He was amply repaid, however^ for this 
sacrifice of dignity by the multitude of objects 
which lay before him. Scarcely a sailor's bag or 
chest escaped his scrutiny ; and wherever he com- 
menced his researches, nothing short of a thorough 
overhaul, during which every thing was tossed out, 
would satisfy him. He rummaged over the mid- 
shipmen's drawers and lockers, tumbled a whole 
case of marine accoutrements out on the deck ; and 
turned every thing he could lay his hands on topsy- 
turvey. He next went to the kitchen, where he 
lifted the lids from the cook's boilers, dipped his 
little rod into the boiling cocoa, and inspected all 
the tea-kettles and coffee-pots. The lustre and 
sharpness of one of the ship's cutlasses delighted 
him so much, that I asked him to accept it. The 
offer seemed to produce a great struggle between 
duty and inclination, but it was of no long dura- 
tion, for, after a moment's consultation with the 
Courtier, he returned the glittering weapon to its 
scabbard, and, as I thought with a sigh, restored 
it to its place. What his scruples were on this 
occasion I could not imagine, for he had no such 
delicacy about any thing else, but seemed desirous 
of possessing samples of almost every thing he 
saw. Of course, he was freely supplied with each 
article he pointed out, which, as soon as it was 
given him, went straight to his immense sleeve, 
which soon hung down with its cargo, like the 
pouch of an overgorged pelican. He contrived 



COBEA. 10 O 

at length, when sufficiently loaded, to hobble up 
the hatchway ladder, and as soon as he reached 
the air, looked about and laughed, like a school- 
boy who, for the first time in his life, has been in- 
dulged with a peep at a raree-show. 

In this interval the natives, by our free permis- 
sion, had been busily employed in taking the dimen- 
sions of the brig with lines and rulers ; together with 
an exact inventory of the guns, shot, spars, rig- 
ging, boats, and every thing capable of enumera- 
tion. They were much puzzled at this moment as 
to the number of persons on board, for I found the 
surveying commissioner, with his note-book in his 
hand, in the midst of a party of young gentlemen, 
who I suspected, were amusing themselves at the 
Corean's expense, as they were all laughing, and 
he was looking very grave. They stoutly denied 
having played off any humours on the native ; but 
I had reason to suspect they had been misinform- 
ing him as to our numbers, for when I extended 
my fingers eight times to him, he erased an entry 
from his book, and substituted the new informa- 
tion, with a look of much satisfaction. 

The old chief, who must needs be everywhere, 
came rustling up to us during this dumb-show con- 
versation, and laying his hand on one of the car- 
ronades, seemed as I thought, to wish it should be 
fired off. Nothing was easier than gratifying him 
in this matter, for as it was ready loaded and pri- 
med, nothing was required but to lift off the leaden 
apron and cock the lock. I then looked to see 
that no boat was in the way, and pulling the lan- 
yard of the trigger, off went the gun, the whole 
being the work of not more than four or five 
seconds. Had a thunderbolt fallen among the 



104 



COKE A. 



natives, it could not have astonished them more ; 
and their admiration rose to the highest pitch, when 
they observed the shot strike the water, close to 
the ship, and rebound eight or ten times before it 
finally disappeared. They could scarcely, indeed, 
believe their senses, and looked incredulously at 
one another, when I showed them a thirty-two 
pound shot, such as had been fired. They handed 
it from one to another with looks of unfeigned 
wonder, and with that sort of respect which a ball 
of this magnitude seldom fails to excite, even in 
minds more familiar with the power of gunpowder 
than the poor Coreans. 

^In the meantime, Captain Maxwell came to us, 
and breakfast being ready, we prevailed on the 
indefatigable old chief to attempt the hatchway 
once more. When fairly seated at table, he ate 
heartily of every thing placed before him, appear- 
ing particularly to relish a dish of hashed pork. A 
knife and fork were given him, certainly the first 
he ever beheld, but after a little instruction, he 
used them not only without much awkwardness, 
but to such satisfactory purpose, that he declined 
substituting for these strange implements, a pair 
of Chinese chop-sticks, which were offered him. 
When tea was given him without sugar or milk, 
on the supposition that he would prefer it in the 
Chinese fashion, he looked to the right and left 
before tasting it, and observing us drinking it dif- 
ferently, held up his cup with a look of reproach 
to the servant, and insisted upon having his share 
of the good things. 

The facility with which this Corean chief, who 
but a few hours before must have been entirely ig- 
norant of our customs, could accommodate him- 



IQp 



self to our habits, was very remarkable. On many 
occasions where he could not be supposed to act 
from our immediate example, he adopted the very 
same forms which our rules of politeness teach us 
to observe ; and if we did not deceive ourselves, 
this observation which was actually made at the* 
moment, is so far curious as it seems to show, 
that however nations differ in the amount of know- 
ledge, or in degrees of civilization, the usages 
which regulate the personal intercourse of all so- 
cieties possess a striking uniformity. As far at least 
as my experience goes, I have remarked, in a con- 
siderable range of the social scale, that where 
there is at bottom a sincere desire to please, which 
is quite compatible with the most savage as well 
as the most refined state of society, the forms in 
which this disposition is expressed, are pretty much 
alike in all /I 

When breakfast was over, and the boats again 
manned, and ready to shove off, we signified our 
intention as well as we could, of landing at the 
town, to which it was thought the chief had given 
us an invitation the evening before. This inter- 
pretation of the matter he either would not, or 
could not, be made to take up ; for as often as we 
pointed to the shore, the old man pointed to the 
frigate. The morning, however, was wearing fast 
away, and it became necessary to decide the mat- 
ter one way or other ; taking therefore to our 
boats, we rowed in the direction of the landing- 
place. The chief, evidently in great perturbation, 
having first turned his boat's head towards the Al- 
ceste, made his people lie on their oars. Upon 
seeing this, we rowed alongside of him, to disco- 
ver if possible what was amiss : but the old chief 



106 



CORE A. 



took no notice of us, till he had held a council of 
war with his attendants ; then suddenly and much 
to our surprise, he stepped over his own gunwale 
into Captain Maxwell's gig. This manoeuvre was 
construed by some into a desire on the chief's part 
4:o keep us company ; while others ascribed it to 
his wish to show publicly that he had no hand in 
conducting strangers to their inhospitable shore : 
that compulsion, in short, was used on the occa- 
sion. Whatever was his motive, he sat for some 
time composedly enough ; but before many mi- 
nutes had elapsed, he repented of his too ready 
compliance, and eagerly made signs for us to go 
back. 

It was now our turn not to understand this 
dumb language, and we rowed merrily onwards. 
As we approached the beach, the old man's dis- 
tress augmented ; and when at length our keel 
touched the sand, and the bowman, by leaping out 
to fix the gang-board actually landed on the for- 
bidden soil, he held up his hands in despair, droop- 
ed his woe-begone countenance on one side, and 
drew his hand repeatedly across his throat, from 
ear to ear,, unequivocally implying, that some one 
or other must lose his head on the occasion. This 
was perplexing enough ; but as we had now fairly 
clone the deed, and reached the shore, it was 
thought that without any great aggravation of the 
offence, we might enjoy the satisfaction of a walk 
in this unexplored country. Accordingly, we step- 
ped out, followed in very miserable plight by our 
venerable friend. As it was low water, we had to 
scramble through sea-weed and wet sand for about 
fifty yards, before reaching a dry spot, where a 
halt was made in order, if possible, to console our 



COREA. 



107 



worthy companion. We tried to signify that our 
wishes went no farther than to walk about for half 
an hour, to stretch our limbs stiffened by so long 
a voyage ; after which it was our intention to re- 
turn on board to dinner. To the latter part of our 
discourse, which consisted in making the action of 
eating and pointing to the ships, his only reply 
was, to repeat the beheading motion with which 
he had before endeavoured, in the boat, to work 
on our fears or our compassion. " How can I eat 
with my head off?" was the interpretation suggested 
by the late Dr. M'Leod, a man of infinite jest, as 
every one knows who has perused his most amu- 
sing narrative. The humorous manner in which 
this was spoken, made all our party laugh ; but 
our mirth only augmented the chief's distress, and 
we began seriously to fear that we had proceeded 
too far. 

The town, however, not being half a mile from 
the spot where we had landed, our purpose was 
merely to walk through it, to climb the wooded hill 
behind, and to return by the top of the ridge to 
our boats, which were ordered to wait at the beach. 
Before advancing many paces, however, we were 
surrounded by upwards of a hundred of the natives, 
and there was reason to think we might pay more 
dearly for our curiosity than at first had been 
reckoned upon. A word from the chief at this 
instant might have finished our expedition in a 
trice ; but on appealing to him against this inter- 
ruption, he spoke some words to his body-guard, 
which consisted of four soldiers armed with bows 
and arrows. The military soon got the better of 
the populace, by pelting them heartily with stones : 
thus inverting the usage of more polished com- 



munities, where these missiles are the established 
weapons of the mob. 

The road being now clear, we turned to prose- 
cute our walk, when lo ! the old chief was in tears, 
literally sobbing like a child, with his head resting 
on the Courtier's shoulder. This was rather too 
much ; for however pitiable and ludicrous it may 
now seem, it had then a very different character, 
and all idea of going farther was instantly given 
up. Every one regretted that matters had been 
pushed to this extremity, but Captain Maxwell 
probably more than any other person, as he had 
been in some degree urged into it, against his bet- 
ter feelings and sounder judgment. 

The case being now hopeless, the boat was 
launched again, and we returned to our ships. The 
signal was made to weigh, and I stood out to sea 
in the Lyra, to sound the passages in the direction 
pointed out. I observed, however, that the Al- 
ceste did not follow immediately ; and I learned 
afterwards, that the old chief had paid the Com- 
modore another visit, just as the frigate's anchor 
was leaving the ground. His appearance was 
quite changed ; his sprightliness, unceremonious 
manners, and insatiable curiosity having given 
place to a cold and stately civility. He appeared 
much embarrassed, perhaps from an apprehension 
of having given offence. But if it were so, he 
was soon undeceived in this matter, as he could 
not fail to perceive, that however his want of hos- 
pitality had disappointed the wishes and expecta- 
tions of his visiter, no trace of ill-will could abide 
on Captain Maxwell's mind. On the contrary, 
every attempt was made to repair the injury done 
f o him, by our landing on his territory. He was 



109 



offered many presents, but declined them all ; till 
at last just when he was going away, Captain 
Maxwell urged him so earnestly to accept of a 
large Bible, that the old man could not refuse, and 
they parted mutual friends. 

We quitted this bay, the only point at which we 
touched on the peninsula of Corea, without much 
regret. There was so little that was conciliatory 
or inviting in the manners of the inhabitants, that 
we had not much expectation of being able by a 
longer stay to establish a useful or friendly inter- 
course with them. The venerable chief indeed, 
with his snow-white beard, his pompous array, and 
his amusing and active curiosity, had made a con- 
siderable impression upon us all. On the other 
hand, his unmanly distress, from whatever cause 
it arose, inevitably took away some of the respect 
with which we were disposed to consider him. This 
circumstance, however, gave the whole picture a 
peculiar interest, and we forgot what was ridicu- 
lous in the old man's character, in the uncertainty 
which must probably forever hang over his fate. 

Frequent mention has been made of the re- 
course we were obliged to have to signs. But after 
a time we discovered this method of communica- 
tion, so much alluded to in voyages and travels, to 
be often ^ery fallacious. There is no saying what 
advantage might arise from it after a long acquaint- 
ance, even supposing the oral language unknown ; 
but certainly when the parties are total strangers 
to each other, the language of signs in many cases 
is almost useless. It was remarked, indeed, more 
than once upon the present occasion, that when 
either the Coreans or the English made signs, un- 
accompanied by language, their signification was 
10 



110 



COBEA. 



readily understood by the by-stand ers of the na- 
tion using them, though absolutely incomprehensi- 
ble by those to whom they were addressed. This 
misrht arise from the essential differences in the 



habits and general te 
respectively : or it r 
persons of each natic 
less with what was w 
rieulty in apprehendic 
cular point which it w 
communicate. ' Be t 
no doubt that our pre 
our departure the gre 
The extreme pron 
met at this remote sp 
nacity with which o 
only on the continer 
in sight of the coast, 
nary degree of vigila: 
of the government, 
ter in China, where t 
ship calling at one c 
though not a probabl 
vernment, instead of < 
perpetually on the we 
an extension of forei 
lestial Empire. Bu 



thought in the parties 
e. that the individual 
? acquainted more or 
wonld have little dif- 
leaning of any parti- 
ibject of these signs to 
t ma v. there could be 
vas disagreeable, and 

with which we were 
the svstematic Derti- 



zo- 



v^e- 
3 is 



infinitely 
calling, tl 
terferencc 
We ne 

nations a: 
of extern 
rftVidaals. 



. is tar more curious. 
?d not look so far. perhaps, as the coasts 
iliow Sea. to be convinced how slowly 
rive at enlightened ideas on the subject 
il relations, as there are not wanting in- 
ane! perhaps whole countries in tne West- 



CORE A. 



in 



ern Hemisphere, who still maintain this repulsive 
Corean system to be the wisest. And it might be 
curious to trace on the globe the different steps or 
shades of liberality in this respect. Beginning with 
Corea and Japan, the least sociable of all nations, 
we next come to China, the commercial resources 
of which mighty empire are dribbled sparingly off 
at the solitary port of Canton. Manilla, which is 
strictly ruled by the principles of the Spanish colo- 
nial system, is but a single degree better. Pro- 
ceeding to the westward, we come to Java, where 
the restrictions and monopolies of the Dutch are 
still felt, though of late somewhat modified. When 
the Straits of Sunda are passed, a nobler field of 
view is opened in British India, the Isle of France, 
the Cape, and still farther westward, the continent 
of South America. After again crossing the Trade- 
winds, we come within the influence of more en- 
lightened views on both sides of the Atlantic ; 
though even in these latitudes we may perhaps de- 
tect some anomalous views of the subject quite 
worthy of Corea. 

During the 6th and 7th of September, we steer- 
ed to the southward and westward, among the 
islands, which lay in thick clusters along the coast, 
and for many leagues out at sea. As most of them 
were inhabited, frequent opportunities occurred of 
seeing the natives, who generally assembled on the 
highest point of the rocks to look at the ships pass- 
ing. The water was generally shallow, and many 
large boats at anchor were busily employed fishing 
with hooks and lines, and sometimes with nets. 
For more than a hundred miles we continued to 
thread our way among this immense archipelago, 
any probable enumeration of whose numbers we 



IIS CORE A. 

discovered to be impossible. The whole sea within 
the horizon viewed from the deck was crowded 
with islands ; and when we ascended to the mast- 
head, groups beyond groups, like clusters of stars 
in the milky- way, were discovered lying as far as 
the eye could reach. The largest island was estima- 
ted at about six miles in length, and some of them 
were mere rocks. Many were cleft by valleys, 
which became the channels of small streams; and 
all being more or less cultivated, and frequently 
wooded to the very top, the scene was not only in- 
teresting from its novelty and magnificence, but 
was often extremely picturesque and beautiful. Of 
this coast, as I have before said, we possessed no 
chart having the slightest pretensions to accuracy ; 
and, indeed, during the greatest part of our course, 
for nearly two hundred miles, we were sailing, ac- 
cording to the best authorities, considerably in the 
interior of the country. 

The tides swept occasionally with much rapidity 
through the narrow channels, rendering great cau- 
tion at all times necessary to avoid being carried on 
the rocks. About four o'clock in the afternoon of 
the 7th of September, after the Seabreeze had died 
away, and left us drifting along with the tide in a 
perfect calm, a reef of rocks was discovered at no 
great distance, over which the tide was boiling and 
foaming most furiously. The anchor, by which 
two men, w r ith axes in their hands, were always 
stationed day and night, was cut away ; but owing 
to the strength of the current, the violent jerk with 
which the ship w T as brought up snapped the cable 
in two. Another anchor, to which the chain cable 
was attached, was let go in a moment, and arrested 
the ship's farther progress : this was just in time. 



CORE A. 



113 



as the stern swung only a few feet clear of a ledge 
of sharp-pointed rocks, capable of piercing through 
the ship's bottom at the first touch. As soon as 
the tide slackened, we removed from this unpleasant 
situation, and sent boats to explore in all directions. 
The reefs were discovered to form a breakwater, 
behind which there lay a perfectly secure harbour, 
where both ships soon anchored. 

This conversion of an evil into an advantage is a 
frequent occurrence in nautical affairs. The shoals 
and rocks which in one view threaten the mariner 
with shipwreck, often afford him, when duly taken 
advantage of, the very means of his security. It 
was the saying of a distinguished philosopher, 
deeply engaged in experimental researches, that 
whenever he found himself stopped by a difficulty, 
or when he encountered what was usually termed 
a failure, he was certain of being on the brink of a 
discovery. The same maxim will apply to the 
science of navigation, as well as to others ; but it 
remains for the genius of such men as Smeaton 
and Rennie to realize the promise — by converting, 
for instance, the formidable dangers of the Eddy- 
stone rocks into the leading mark for Plymouth 
Sound ; which in its turn by a similar species of 
alchemy, is transmuted from a dangerous and in- 
convenient roadstead, into one of the securest har- 
bours in England. 

The Lyra was enabled to anchor so much near- 
er the shore than the Alceste, that we command- 
ed a view of a pretty large village, entirely hid from 
the frigate by rocks and trees. The male inhabit- 
ants, as usual, had retreated to the highest point of 
the island, but we could discover in the village, by 
means of our glasses, several women. We thought 
10* 



114 



COKE A, 



they looked fairer than the men. that is to say. 
less brown, for the whole race were dark. They 
were also somewhat differently dressed, as they 
wore a white robe, open in front, and reaching a 
little below the knee, fastened round the waist by 
a dark-coloured narrow zone. Their hair, how- 
ever, was dressed like that of the men, in a high 
spiral bunch or knot, over which was sometimes 
thrown loosely a plain white handkerchief. Be- 
fore the door of one of the houses, some damsels, 
very scantily attired, were busily engaged in husk- 
ing rice, by beating it in mortars, attended by a 
group of women and children, winnowing corn in 
the Chinese manner, by throwing it in the air. 
The only species of work which we saw the men 
engaged seriously in, at any of these islands, was 
fishing, and making and repairing their nets. 

We landed, and walked to the village, where 
two men and a dog were the only living creatures 
that were waiting to receive us. If there was any 
difference, the dog was the least surly of the three ; 
but on none of them could we make any impres- 
sion by means of signs, or by offers of buttons and 
other valuables, which we brought with us to bribe 
their good-will. They would neither speak nor 
move, or if they did exhibit any show of life, it 
was by an occasional wave of the hand towards 
the ships. Our past experience had prepared us 
to expect a cool reception, but certainly we had 
not expected to have a whole village to ourselves. 
We gladly took advantage, however, of the only 
opportunity we had yet had of carrying our re- 
searches within doors. 

Nothing very curious rewarded our pains ; but 
as there is perhaps no other description of a Op- 



€0REA. Hb 

rean house on record, a few words may not be out 
of place. The door was made to turn on an up- 
right moveable bar, fitted into a cross-beam above, 
and a hole in the threshold stone below. Before 
it lay a neat smooth little court, surrounded by a 
close hedge, of a sweet-scented red and white 
flower, resembling the honeysuckle in shape. On 
the ground were lying some bundles of corn, and 
two wooden mortars, with double-handed pestles, 
for removing the husks. Cooking utensils were 
ranged along the wall on one side of the door ; 
to the left of the court were several corn stacks. 
The house was overshadowed by large trees, whose 
leaf resembled that of the Portugal laurel ; and 
the trunks of these trees and the ends of the house 
were covered with a thick matting of small-leaved 
ivy. Nothing within corresponded to the taste 
and neatness of the exterior. The room, for there 
was but one, was dark and dirty, the walls and 
roof being either covered with cobwebs or glazed 
by the action of wood-smoke. The floor was di- 
versified by hill and dale, much in the manner of 
some cottages which I have seen nearer home, 
with the appropriate appendage of a lake here and 
there. The fire-place stood between two large 
boilers, sunk deep in rude brick-work, the use of 
which vessels we could not surmise. On the hot 
embers of the fire lay a couple of fish, one of which> 
a fine fresh haddock, we took the liberty of help- 
ing ourselves to, in the inhospitable absence of the 
rightful owners. On the wall opposite to this 
miserable fire-place, were ranged on two shelves a 
goodly store of coarse crockery, and two or three 
round shining metal pots and pans. On one of 
the shelves also stood what seemed two wooden 



116 



CORE A, 



stools, handsomely carved, and varnished with the 
"brilliant lacker used in China. These imple- 
ments, if we did not mistake their use, certainly 
appeared much too fine for the rest of the esta- 
blishment, and quite out of place standing on a 
shelf. The roof was of thatch, resting on a net- 
work of rods, and the eaves extended more than a 
yard from the walls, at once affording shade to a 
narrow verandah in front of the house, and giving 
shelter to the windows from rain — a precaution 
quite necessary to its existence, as it was compo- 
sed of oiled paper, pasted over small square open- 
ings in a wooden frame. The walls themselves 
were built' of stones and mud, most inartificialiy 
put together — a want of neatness and skill which 
did not apply to the more difficult branch of archi- 
tecture, the frame-work of the roof, this being con- 
structed precisely on our principles, with a king- 
post and rafters, very neatly morticed in their 
proper places. 

Having completed our inventory, we returned 
to the two surly guardians of the village, who by 
this time were somewhat more communicative, 
and presently yielded completely to Captain Max- 
well's good humour and invincible patience. As 
soon as he caught a smile on one of their lips, he 
insisted on shaking hands, and then drawing the 
native's arm familiarly through his own, fairly 
marched him off. I could do no better, I thought, 
than follow this example, and thus all four jogged 
along till we reached a house on the side of the 
hill, where a halt was agreed upon, and signs made 
to explain that we should have no objection to 
smoke a pipe with our new friends. The object 
in view was if possible to establish something like 



COREA, 



117 



a friendly intercourse with tnese jealous people, 
and in time possibly this might have been effected. 
But while we were getting acquainted by slow de- 
grees with these two men, our attention Was taken 
off by a Corean boat, which entered the bay at this 
moment, and rowed directly to the village. The 
crew jumped hastily on shore, and came up the hill 
towards us at a rapid pace, and with no very 
friendly looks or gestures. Captain Maxwell and 
I were alone, and without fire-arms. It was pos- 
sible, we thought, that violence might be intended, 
but it was clearly the safest plan to imply just the 
contrary ; and, accordingly, we met them at the 
entrance of the court with confidence and good 
humour. Their object proved anything but hos- 
tile ; for they sat down with us, and hastily filling 
their pipes, lighted them for us themselves, and 
begged us to smoke. Our language appeared to 
have something ludicrous in its sound to their ears, 
for they laughed in the most immoderate way at 
some of our expressions, and made us repeat the 
words England and Maxwell over and over again, 
the whole party, to the number of eight or ten, 
bursting into a violent laugh the moment they were 
spoken. 

After the first civilities, such as they were, had 
been interchanged, the strangers crowded round, 
and by their gestures and looks seemed desirous of 
examining the different articles of our dress. To 
gratify them in this matter I thought was easy 
enough ; but they wished to carry the inspection 
to the utmost extent, and were not contented with 
taking off my hat, coat, and gloves, but must 
needs investigate the shoes and stockings, and final- 
ly expressed some dissatisfaction at my declining 



113 CORE A. 

to proceed farther than the removal of my waist- 
coat. Captain Maxwell, who stood by with a 
Corean pipe in his mouth, was as much amused as 
any of the party ; but he declined being searched, 
and the natives were willing to leave him alone on 
condition of my submitting. No part of my dress 
excited so much interest as the stockings. Hold- 
ing them up to one another, they shouted, u Hota ! 
Hota!" upon which we took down the word 
Hota in our vocabularies as the Corean for stock- 
ings ; but in the next minute we heard the same 
word applied to several other things, which made 
us suspect the word meant good, or wonderful. 
Similar errors are very apt -to be committed by 
pe'rsons who visit a people with whose language 
they have not the least acquaintance. To learn 
the native expressions, therefore, equivalent to 
4; What do you call this ?" should be the first point 
aimed at ; and it may generally be caught by 
watching closely when new objects are shown to 
them. 

It was reasonable to hope that the other vil- 
lagers, who had fled on our approach, would now 
be induced to return, on seeing so cordial a com- 
munication established between us and their coun- 
trymen ; but as not one of them came down, it 
was determined we should go in quest of them. 
We therefore proceeded up the hill, in expectation 
of coming suddenly upon the inhabitants, and thus 
obtaining a view of their females, not one of 
whom had been seen at a less distance than half a 
mile. But our companions took good care that 
this manoeuvre should not serve, as they went along 
with us, and shouted so loudly, that their comrades 
and the women having due warning, kept them- 



CORE A J 



119 



selves effectually concealed. At length we came 
near a ravine, in which most probably the fugitives 
were hid ; for the Coreans made violent objections 
to our farther advance. The discussion which 
now ensued led to the discovery of a singular 
faculty which these people possess of imitating 
sounds. One of them, in his anxiety to arrest my 
farther proceedings, seized my arm, and pinched 
it so severely, that I turned upon him, and exclaim- 
ed, " Patience, sir ! " He instantly let go his hold, 
and repeated what I had said with the most exact 
articulation and tone. On hearing these words 
from their companion, the others made the attempt 
likewise, with equal success ; so that nothing was 
heard for some minutes but " Patience, sir!" 
This incident, by furnishing a new topic, had the 
effect of making us better acquainted with one 
another ; and all the way down the hill we amused 
ourselves by instructing the Coreans in English. 
Our scholars were so apt, that before reaching the 
boat some of them could repeat a whole sentence 
so correctly, that the boat's crew when they heard 
the Coreans speak, actually believed they under- 
stood our language. 

Before quitting the shore, we invited them, in 
the best manner we could, to come off to the ships 
in the morning. One of the natives, it was ima- 
gined, comprehended these signs ; for he first made 
preparations, as we thought, for going to bed, pla- 
ced his head on his hand, closed his eyes, and sno- 
red very emphatically. After a second or two he 
started up, affected to look about him, and then 
laid his hand upon Captain Maxwell's shoulder, 
with an air of welcome. This piece of dumb 
show was variously rendered, Captain Maxwell 



120 



COKEA, 



conceived him to say, that if we would go away tor 
the night, we might expect to be well received 
next day ; whilst I understood it as a promise on 
the part of the Corean to visit us in the morning. 
Both guesses were wrong ; for the man never 
came near us, and our reception when we did land 
again was the reverse of welcome. In one re- 
spect alone we probably never erred, namely, in 
supposing our presence irksome ; for the only mea- 
sure the natives heartily approved of was our pre 
paration to depart. 

On the 9th September we landed a little before 
sun-rise, in hopes to find the villagers still in their 
houses ; but they had again given us the slip, and 
not a mortal was to be seen anywhere. Thus 
foiled in all our endeavours to conciliate this inhospi- 
table people, we determined merely to take a look 
round us from a high peak near the centre of the 
island, and then to plague them no more. 

On our way to the summit, three or four of the 
Coreans joined us ; two of them were of last eve- 
ning's party, the others were strangers. On reach- 
ing a grove of fir-trees growing about half way up 
the hill, one of the new comers strongly objected 
to our proceeding farther ; but we pursued our way 
notwithstanding. On reaching an open space, 
where there happened to be a decayed stump of 
an old tree standing in the centre, one of our com- 
panions fell on his knees before it, touched the 
ground with his forehead, and clasped his hands 
before his breast in the attitude of prayer. This 
proceeding had all the appearance of a stratagem 
to dissuade us from going farther ; for the other 
Coreans took no notice of their companion's pros- 
trations, and he himself seeing that his proceed- 



COKE A. 



121 



ings had made no impression upon us, got on his 
legs, and walked very sulkily away. During all our 
intercourse with the Coreans, we could detect no 
other circumstance indicative of any religious ob- 
servance. No temple or idol, or even a tomb, 
was anywhere to be seen in or near their villages. 
In China it was otherwise ; every village, however 
small, had its temple filled with jolly images, and 
was surrounded by numerous burying-places, built 
in the shape of a horse-shoe, white-washed, and 
conspicuous at a considerable distance. 

In the course of our walk we fell in with a drove 
of six fat bullocks, of a diminutive breed, but the 
Coreans would not exchange them for our dollars, 
buttons, fire-arms, or any thing we had to offer 
them. Dogs were the only other quadrupeds we 
saw ; but among the trees we observed pigeons 
and hawks, and on one occasion an eagle. In the 
fields also, wherever we went, not only among 
these islands, but in China and elsewhere, we inva- 
riably met with our old and familiar friend the 
common black crow, a bird which, as far as I have 
observed, is equally at home in all parts of the 
globe. 

No persuasion could induce any of those sulky 
natives to take their breakfast with us on board. 
As an expedition in the boats had been projected 
for this morning, we wished, if possible, to have 
the companionship and assistance of the natives, 
and w T e hoped to make it worth their while to at- 
tend us. But they absolutely refused to become 
our pilots, and they despised every thing we pos- 
sessed. 

Before setting out, we determined, by means of 
observations on an island near the anchorage, that 
11 



lis, 



CORE A, 



the latitude of this harbour is 34° 22 north, and 
the longitude 126° 2'f east. 

Our course in the boats lay among islands 
grouped thickly together, all of them inhabited, 
and very neatly cultivated, especially in the neigh- 
bourhood of the numerous villages which every- 
where lined their shores. The peak at which we 
aimed, as usual, proved farther off than we had 
calculated upon, and cost us some hard climbing 
before we reached the summit, though not more 
than six hundred feet above the level of the sea. 
The main land of Corea, or what we conceived to 
be such, was just discernible from this elevation, 
and all round us the sea was studded m the most 
astonishing manner with the islands so often men- 
tioned. We set ourselves separately the task of 
counting them. One person, by enumerating 
those only which were evidently separated from 
the rest, or round which the sea could distinctly 
be traced, made the number a hundred and twenty. 
Two others of our party, by taking into account 
ttye probable number forming each group, made a 
hundred and thirty-six. and a hundred and seventy. 
These results merely show the impossibility of 
speaking with precision on the subject. When, 
however, it is considered that even the lowest num- 
ber, a hundred and twenty islands, could be counted 
from one spot, and that for upwards of a hundred 
and fifty miles we had been sailing without inter- 
mission among islands not less crowded than they 
were here, some idea may be formed of this won- 
derful scene, the very existence of which, I believe, 
was not even suspected in Europe before this 
voyage. 

On descending the hill, we found our dinner laid 



GOREA. 



123 



out on one of the boat's sails for a table-cloth, 
spread under the shade of a thick grove of oaks, 
growing by the side of a cold spring of water gush- 
ing from the mountain side. There was a village 
not fifty yards off, which we explored before dining, 
in hopes of finding some natives to join us. It 
was nearly deserted, for only two of the inhabit- 
ants remained. One of these was a very plain 
old lady, who took no sort of notice of us, but 
allowed us to pass her door, before which she was 
seated, without even condescending to look up. 
The other was a middle-aged man, industriously 
employed in the manufacture of a straw sandal. 
He showed but one degree more curiosity than 
his fair fellow citizen, just raising his head for an 
instant, and then resuming his work with perfect 
composure. In order to rouse this stoical and in- 
curious Corean, we thrust a button into his 
hands, which he received without the least show 
of gratitude, and put into a bag lying near him, 
but still went on with his work. Another button 
offered in exchange induced him to surrender his 
handy work ; and I mention the circumstance as 
being the only instance which occurred during our 
visit to Corea of any thing like traffic. We made 
signs that we wished to examine his house, — that 
is to say, we opened the door and walked in. But 
even this proceeding elicited no show of interest 
in our phlegmatic shoemaker, who seizing another 
wisp of straw, commenced a new pair of sandals, 
as deliberately as if we had been merely a party 
of his fellow Coreans inspecting the dwelling, in- 
stead of a company of European strangers, unlike 
what he could ever have seen before, or was ever 
likely to see again. 

During dinner, we detected the heads of five or 



124 



COKE A. 



six of the natives peeping at us over the hill-top 
behind us. We held up our bottles and glasses, 
and tried to bring them down to us, but they re- 
fused to stir a single step nearer. The boat's crew, 
who in the mean time had been rambling about the 
hills, now joined the villagers, and speedily became 
very good friends with them. The present indeed 
was not the only occasion on which our men found 
no difficulty in conciliating the good- will of the na- 
tives, when the officers, with ten times more effort, 
Could often make no successful advances. This 
arose probably from the very different feelings and 
objects with which we severally undertook the task. 
Our manners may have become in some degree 
constrained, by an over-anxiety to please, thus de- 
feating the object in view by exciting distrust and 
alarm. On the other hand, the sailors, by habit 
unreflecting and inoffensive, never dreamed that 
their unaffected frankness could possibly be mis- 
construed, and sometimes gained without effort the 
very point we were unsuccessfully aiming at. 

The Coreans on the hill, seeing that we took 
no notice of them, continued creeping onwards 
little by little, till they appeared fully in view on 
the slope of the bank. At last one of them, ac- 
tuated apparently by a sudden impulse, started on 
his feet, and strode boldly down to us. Without 
pausing an instant, he walked straight up to Cap- 
tain Maxwell and offered him his lighted pipe. In 
return for this bold overture, the Commodore, 
having first accepted the Corean's pipe, stood up 
and filled him a bumper of wine. The native drain- 
ed the glass to the bottom, and holding it up to his 
friends on the hill, roared out in ecstacy, Hota! 
Hota ! His raptures instantly brought down the 



COREA. 



125 



whole party, who, unlike most of their countrymen 
we had met before, made no scruples about ac- 
cepting our hospitality, and several bottles of wine 
were soon emptied. There was now some reason 
to hope that the difficult passage to a Corean's 
heart had been discovered ; but at the very moment 
we conceived ourselves established in their good 
graces, one of them unluckily looked over his 
shoulder, and beheld the sun just touching the 
horizon. In a moment all his joviality and confi- 
dence were dispersed ; and thinking it too good a 
hint to be lost, he rose from the ground, patted us 
sharply on the shoulder, and pointed to the setting 
sun ; then reclining his head on his shoulder, closed 
his eyes as if asleep, and most unequivocally made 
signs for us to retire to bed without, delay. We 
endeavoured, by drawing another cork, to protract 
our stay a little longer, but they allowed us no 
peace or quiet till all the things were ordered into 
the boat, and prepartions made for departing. The 
whole party then accompanied us to the water's 
edge, helped us rather roughly to embark, and ex- 
pressed the most lively satisfaction when they were 
fairly rid of us. 

This was the last we saw of the Coreans ; and 
no one was sorry to quit a country where at every 
moment he was made sensible of being considered 
an object of distrust, perhaps of ill will to people 
he was disposed to treat with confluence and kind- 
ness. A. future voyager would do wisely to carry 
along with him a person skilled in the Chinese 
written character, and acquainted with some of the 
spoken languages of those seas. He ought like- 
wise to have more leisure on his hands than we 
had, since it is manifestly impossible, in a hurried 
11* 



126 



loo-choo. 



visit such as ours, effectually to overcome the ex- 
treme distrust of strangers evinced by this ^most 
unsociable of nations. 



CHAPTER V. 

LEAVE THE COREAN ARCHIPELAGO ATTEMPT TO 

LAND ON SULPHUR ISLAND — ARRIVAL AT LOO- 
CHOO INTERVIEWS WITH THE NATIVE CHIEFS. 

About noon on the 10th of September, 1816, we 
sailed from the Amherst Isles, as Captain Maxwell 
named this archipelago, in honour of the ambas- 
sador to China, and having a fresh breeze, we 
made rapid progress to the southward. In the 
evening, we could barely distinguish the island of 
Quelpaert, of which there has been published an 
interesting account, containing the adventures of 
some shipwrecked Dutch seamen, who were de- 
tained there for many years. At night the wind 
blew hard from the north, accompanied by a 
JDountainous swell. 

Shortly after daybreak on the morning of the 
13th of September, we came in sight of Sulphur 
Island, a high solitary rock in the Japan Sea, with 
what Humboldt calls an unextinct volcano on its 
north-western side. It had been our intention to 
land, but the surf broke w T ith so much violence on 
every part of the shore, that this became impracti- 
cable. On sailing round, we discovered the crater, 
which emitted a white smoke strongly charged with 
the fumes of sulphur. The cliffs in that neighbour- 
hood were of a pale yellow colour streaked with 



LOO-CHOO. 



127 



brown, and the rocks everywhere rugged and bar- 
ren. The southern end of the island, which rose to 
a considerable height, was of a deep red colour, 
with an occasional spot of green. The strata, 
seemingly of tuffa, which lay in a direction nearly 
horizontal, were intersected at one place by a large 
dike of lava, which projected many fathoms from 
the face of the cliff like a wall, and formed a very 
conspicuous object. 

As the weather looked threatening, we relin- 
quished all idea of examining this volcano, and 
stood to the southward till four o'clock, at which 
hour high land in the south-west was reported to 
be in sight from the mast-head. But there was 
not sufficient daylight for us to venture nearer, 
and we stood off to the north-westward for the 
evening. 

At daylight on the 14th of September, although 
the weather was still unsettled, we became anxious 
to close with the land, and bore up in the direction 
of the Great Loo-Choo Island. At eight o'clock 
the Sugar-Loaf mountain described by Captain 
Broughton came in sight, rising at the south end 
of a small green island, into a high and remarkable 
cone. We left this curious peak to the eastward 
of us, and continued steering to the southward, 
hoping to find some shelter under the lee of the 
large island before night, or at all events to reach 
smooth water, and perhaps good anchorage, till 
the weather should become more moderate. 

Whilst we were sailing along on this course at 
a quick rate, breakers were suddenly discovered 
close ahead of us, which the haziness of the wea- 
ther, and the agitation of the waves on all sides, 
had prevented our discovering before. The brig 



128 



LGO-CHOG. 



was instantly hauled to the wind, and all possible 
sail made to weather the reef. The situation of 
things was now a very critical one, for the swell 
caused by the recent northerly gale materially im- 
peded the vessel's way ; and we had the farther 
mortification to discover that a strong lee-current 
was drifting her gradually towards the rocks. At 
one time we were so close to the surf that from 
the mast-head we could look fairly down upon the 
coral bank, which formed a complete and well- 
defined circle, with a low island on its southern 
boundary. The sea broke furiously all round the 
shoal, but within the water was quite smooth, and 
being only a foot or two in depth, the coral rocks, 
of a bright green and yellow colour, shone dis- 
tinctly through. The tranquillity and beauty of 
the interior circle offered a curious and striking 
contrast to the violence of the waves which begirt 
it, and at any other moment might have been con- 
sidered a very pleasing sight ; but now, when ship- 
wreck stared us in the face, and the angry sound of 
the breakers roared in our ears, we had no leisure 
for such reflections. After being in this unpleasant 
predicament for nearly a quarter of an hour, gra- 
dually approaching nearer and nearer to the rocks, 
on which had we touched but for one instant the 
poor Lyra must have been dashed to pieces, we 
succeeded in weathering the western end of the 
reef, but only by a few yards. 

No sooner was this danger passed than there 
came in sight, to our great joy, a fine clear pas- 
sage several miles in width, through which the 
ships proceeded with a flowing sheet to a situation 
where the water was perfectly smooth. As the 
Alceste kept always at the distance of half a league 



L00-CH00. 129 

astern of the Lyra, whose draught of water was 
not nearly so great, she rounded the reef with less 
difficulty than we had experienced, though not 
without considerable danger ; owing to the rapid 
tide which flowed directly upon those terrific 
ledges. 

On the 15th, in the morning, it was arranged 
that the brig should go inshore, to search for some 
secure anchoring place, while the frigate remained 
in the offing, in deep water. I accordingly pro- 
ceeded on this service ; but after several hours' 
examination of the coast could discover no secure 
harbour for ships, or anything indeed beyond a re- 
treat for fishing-boats. During this survey the boat 
sent along the shore fell in with several canoes ; 
in one of which sat a native, who appeared to know 
what we were hunting for, as he showed us a point 
of land to the northward, and made signs that we 
should sail round in that direction ; meanwhile two 
other canoes came off to the Lyra, rowed by some 
remarkably friendly people. One of them the in- 
stant he came alongside handed up a jar of water, 
and the other put on board a basket of boiled 
sweet potatoes, without asking or seeming to wish 
for any recompense. The manners of our new 
acquaintances were very gentle and respectful : 
they made a rule of uncovering their heads when 
in our presence, bowed low whenever they spoke, 
and when we gave them something to eat and 
drink made a low salam to every person standing 
near, before they tasted what was given them. At 
the same moment another party visited the Al- 
ceste, who left an equally favourable impression ; 
for when a rope was thrown to them from the ship, 
they attached a fish to it, and then paddled away. 



V 



130 



LOO-CHOO. 



All this seemed to promise well, and the contrast 
was particularly grateful to us after being exposed 
so lately to the cold and repulsive manners of the 
Coreans. 

The day was spent in trying to beat round the 
point of land to the northward, but the tide and 
wind were so strong against us that we made little 
or no progress ; and when at length it became 
dark, we found ourselves most awkwardly situated. 
To the east and west, at the distance of a few 
miles, lay islands, of which nothing more was 
known, than that each was begirt with a fringe of 
coral. To leeward there had been discovered-, in 
the course of the day, a circular reef, about half a 
mile in diameter, just appearing above the surface 
of the sea at low water, but quite concealed at 
high tide, the most dangerous description of rock. 
To windward, nearly north, were seen the formi- 
dable shoals upon which the Lyra was nearly wreck- 
ed on the Saturday before, and which we certainly 
had no wish to approach in the dark. The exact 
position of these numerous dangers being unknown 
to us, and the set of the tides no less so, we came 
to the resolution of dropping our anchors for the 
night, although in eighty fathoms water. As long 
as daylight lasted we held these difficulties in our 
situation comparatively cheap — the shoals were 
scattered about, and the channels between them 
were wide and obvious : But no sooner was the 
night closed in, and the imagination left to fill up 
the picture, than the probabilities of accident seem- 
ed multiplied a hundred fold, while the chances 
of escape appeared to diminish in the same pro- 
portion. 

At daylight of the 16th of September we weigh- 



131 



eel, and plied hard to windward all the morning ; 
but owing to the wind and tide being still directly 
contrary, it was not until half past two o'clock that 
the ships passed the point to which the fisherman 
had called our attention. No sooner was this ef- 
fected, than we came in sight of an extensive town 
on the banks of a secure harbour, crowded with 
vessels. On steering towards this anchorage it 
became necessary to sound every foot of the way 
among the coral reefs, although upon this occasion 
they happened to be tolerably well defined by the 
surf breaking upon them. The circumstance, 
however, of the rocks being rendered visible, it 
ought to be remembered, is by no means a frequent 
occurrence, and therefore cannot be depended on 
for the general purposes of pilotage. When the 
sea is smooth, these dangerous ledges give no warn- 
ing at all, and a ship on approaching them ought 
therefore to have a boat ahead to sound the pas- 
sages before she ventures to enter herself. 

The instant the ships came to an anchor, they 
were surrounded by canoes crowded with the na- 
tives, who, accompanied by their children, eager- 
ly flocked on board. The people, unlike any others 
we had seen, wore handsome loose dresses, tied 
with a belt round their waist ; and their hair, pull- 
ed tightly up from the sides to the top of the head, 
was formed into a knot, through which were thurst 
two metal pins. In the course of an hour, a na- 
tive, evidently of higher rank than our first visit- 
ers, came on board to pay his respects ; and we 
discovered, to our great satisfaction, that he could 
understand the Chinese servant, who had been of 
no use to us in Corea. As it appeared from this 
person's account that there were other chiefs of 



132 



LU0-C1I00. 



higher rank coming off, Captain Maxwell declined 
receiving his visit ; partly with a view to induce 
the principal people to come on board, and partly 
to maintain an appearance of dignity, a point, we 
had always been told, of great importance in trans- 
actions with the Chinese and their neighbours, who 
were apt, it was said, to repay condescension with 
presumption. And as these people were described 
as being dependant on China, it was thought fair 
to conclude there might be some similarity in their 
manners and customs. It was argued, that at all 
events, it would be easier at a future time to relax 
from our dignity, and become unreserved and cor- 
dial, if we found good reason, after having assumed 
a stateliness of manner in the first instance, than it 
would be to repress the encroachments of undue 
freedom, if once encouraged by too great familiar- 
ity. Such was the reasoning used at the time : 
but I had some lurking doubts, I confess, as to the 
soundness of the doctrine, and the expediency of 
adopting this system of reserve. A more exten- 
sive acquaintance with strange people and coun- 
tries has since satisfied me completely that the as- 
sumption of an artificial character generally defeats 
its own purpose ; as hauteur, where it does not 
naturally exists is apt to be fatal to consistency, and 
thus destroys, or rather prevents the establishment 
of confidence. Judging from experience alone, I 
would say, that in treating with the natives of 
countries little acquainted with our manners, no- 
thing is so important as the absence of every kind 
of disguise ; because the smallest discovery of in- 
consistency on our part is sure to be considered 
by them as duplicity, whether it be so 01 not, and 



LOO-CHOO, 



133 



this suspicion at once puts confidential intercourse 
out of the question. 

Before the native who had come to visit us took 
his leave, he requested to be informed of the reason 
of our coming into this harbour. The interpreter 
was instructed to acquaint him in reply, that the 
ships had experienced very bad weather, had been 
a long time at sea, and that in consequence the 
largest ship had sprung a leak, and required vari- 
ous repairs which could only be done in a secure 
harbour. Farther explanations, he was told, would 
be given to the superior chiefs when they came on 
board. We were well prepared for these inqui- 
ries, not only from the reception we had met with 
at Corea, but from the notorious jealousy of cha- 
racter ascribed to all the nations of this quarter of 
the globe. So far it was well, however, that the 
Alceste did actually stand in need of some material 
repairs ; and we could therefore assert with truth 
that this was our chief object. To have assigned 
curiosity, or a desire of gaining local information, 
as our motive, to a people generally supposed 
wholly unconscious of such feelings, would have 
been useless : and to have talked of opening any 
commercial intercourse, would only have alarmed 
their habitual jealousy. 

The canoes or boats which came off to us, were 
mostly hollowed out of one piece of wood, carried 
two sails each, and were moved, when not under 
sail, with considerable velocity, by two or more 
paddles, assisted by one oar over the stern, serving 
as in China, the double purpose of a skull and a 
rudder. Each person in the canoe sat on a sepa- 
rate low seat or stool, made of rattans, with bam- 
boo les"s. As the day closed, fishing canoes came 
12 



134 



LOO-CHOO. 



in great numbers from the offing, most of which 
called alongside the ships on their way to the 
town. Once or twice these people very good-na- 
turedly pulled up our lines and baited the hooks, 
certainly a most disinterested proceeding on tho 
part of a fisherman. 

Meanwhile the beach, the tops of the sandbanks, 
and all the cliffs abreast of the ships, were covered 
with people staring with astonishment at the novel 
sight which we presented. The crowd was most 
dense and conspicuous on two projecting piers or 
breakwaters forming the entrance to the harbour, 
where the variety of brilliant coloured dresses, all 
fluttering with the fresh Seabreeze, and shining in 
the setting sun, made a very lively exhibition. In 
the dusk of the evening Captain Maxwell and I 
rowed completely round the bay, and carefully ex- 
amined the anchorage, which proved tolerably safe, 
though not entirely clear of rocks. An officer was 
despatched at the same time in one of the cutters 
to inspect the inner harbour, but before he had 
gone far it was found to be much too shallow even 
for the brig. 

On returning to the Lyra, I learned that Mr. 
Clifford had been entertaining several good-hu- 
moured natives, w r ho had paid him a visit during 
my absence. This gentleman, with laudable in- 
dustry, had already commenced a vocabulary of the 
Loo-choo language, and as the natives readily com- 
prehended his desire to know their words for vari- 
our things, he succeeded in collecting a considera- 
ble number. Among these the name for tobacco 
was exactly the same as our own ; and perhaps 
there is nothing which is expressed by the same 
word in so many different languages as this plant ; 



LOO-CHOO. 



135 



the name, in fact, being nearly coextensive with 
its use. 

On the 17th of September, after breakfast, three 
chiefs came on board the Alceste. They were 
entertained for some time by the officers, while 
Captain Maxwell was preparing to receive them ; 
and when all was ready, a message was formally 
sent to acquaint them, that the Ta-yin was desi- 
rous of an interview. This term for a person of 
rank, literally " great man," though a pure Chi- 
nese expression, was always used by these people 
in speaking of Captain Maxwell. They were con- 
ducted to the cabin by the first lieutenant, Mr. 
Hickman, where they were received by the Com- 
modore in due form. Probably all this state and 
ceremony embarrassed our worthy guests a little, 
as they at first objected to sitting down, making at 
the same time many low obeisances, by stooping 
the body and raising their hands clasped together 
to their faces. These scruples being at length 
overcome, the first or principal chief took his 
place on Captain Maxwell's left hand ; the next 
sat on my left, and a third, still lower in rank, 
placed himself beyond the second. This difficult 
operation accomplished, and all the party fairly es- 
tablished, a long and unsatisfactory pause ensued. 
The chiefs sat stock-still and respectfully silent, 
till Captain Maxwell, finding that it was expected 
of him to commence the conversation, explained 
through the interpreter, that the ships under his 
command belonged to the King of England ; and 
had gone to China with an Ambassador, now pro- 
bably at Pekin ; that on their return towards Can- 
ton, the ships had experienced bad weather, the 
effects of which obliged them to put in here to 



136 



LOO-CHOO. 



refit, as well as to procure supplies of fresh provi- 
sions, water, and vegetables. 

A considerable interval elapsed before any reply 
was made ; when, after consulting with one another 
for about five minutes, they expressed their will- 
ingness to assist us, but said this harbour was much 
too shallow for large ships, and therefore recom- 
mended our proceeding to another port called 
Oonting. which they described as being secure and 
commodious, and only a few hours sail from this 
anchorage. They offered to furnish pilots to con- 
duct us thither ; but Captain Maxwell, who was 
too old a sailor to relinquish so excellent an "an- 
chorage as the present, unless certain of finding a 
better, proposed to them that the Lyra should be 
sent to examine and report upon the harbour allu- 
ded to. The chiefs deliberated together for a long- 
time upon this proposal : and said at last that they 
could not undertake to send pilots to the little ship, 
without first consulting some great man on shore. 
This expression roused our curiosity to know who 
this great personage could be, but they evaded our 
inquiries with the greatest adroitness. Captain 
Maxwell then asked where the king of the island 
resided, inthnating-his intention of going to court 
without loss of time. To this proposal they strong- 
ly objected, declaring it not only inexpedient, but 
impossible, since his majesty lived a thousand miles 
off. Captain Maxwell replied, that distance was 
no object to him ; upon which they laughed, and 
changed the conversation to something else. As 
we knew the island to be only about sixty miles long, 
this assertion about the distance of the court was 
obviously a mere flourish, and, indeed, in the next 
minute, they undertook to get an answer from the 
same quarter about the pilots in a few hours. 



LOO-CHOG. 



137 



As we had been led to hope, from the frankness 
and kindness with which these people had received 
us at first, that no restraint would be imposed upon 
us, we were much disappointed to observe, when- 
ever we spoke of landing, or put any questions 
about the king, the chiefs became, or affected to 
become, strangely agitated, always replying in a 
very unsatisfactory and mysterious manner. We 
were fain to console ourselves, however, with the 
supposition, that upon farther acquaintance this 
distrust and apprehension would wear off. 

The official business of the interview over, the 
chiefs were invited to walk round the cabin, an 
indulgence which they accepted with manifest sa- 
tisfaction. During the previous conference they 
had preserved a ceremonious and solemn gravity, 
suited, as they probably thought, to the occasion, 
and although surrounded by many new and curious 
objects, they never once allowed their eyes to stray, 
or expressed the slightest curiosity to examine 
what was near them. Now the case was changed ; 
and their manners being no longer stiff and formal, 
they looked at the various things which were shown 
them with great attention and interest, taking no- 
tice, in particular, of the globes, books, and mir- 
rors. The whole deportment of these people was 
remarkably gentle and unassuming. They were 
also very shrewd and observant, and possessed no 
small share of curiosity ; but they were always 
modest and unobtrusive, and required some en- 
couragement to bring them forward. They ap- 
peared to us, at this interview, to be exercising a 
good deal of self-denial, possibly dreading that a 
hasty show of curiosity might be troublesome. 
The dress of these interesting persons was singu- 
la* 



138 



LOO-CHOO. 



larly graceful and picturesque: it consisted of a 
loose flowing robe folded over the breast, so as to 
leave the neck bare ; but fastened round the mid- 
dle by a broad rich belt or girdle of embroidered 
silk, nearly hid by the overlapping folds of the 
drapery. The sleeves were so wide that when the 
arms were crossed in front, the lower part reached 
nearly to the knees. Each of them wore on his 
head a yellow cindrical cap, and on his feet a neatly 
plaited straw sandal, laced over a short cotton boot 
or stocking. Two of the chiefs were dressed in 
jight-coloured yellow robes, the others in dark blue, 
streaked with white, ail made of cotton. Their 
caps or turbans were flat at the top, and appeared 
to be formed by winding a broad band diagonally 
round a frame in such a manner, that at each turn 
a small portion of the last fold should be visible 
above in front, and below at the hinder part. The 
sandals were bound to the feet by a stiff straw 
band passing over the instep, and connected with 
the fore part of the sole by a slender string drawn 
between the great toe and the one next to it, the 
stocking being oddly enough contrived with a divi- 
sion like the finger of a glove, to receive the great 
toe. Each chief carried a fan either in his hand 
or thrust into the girdle, together with a short to- 
bacco-pipe and pouch, enclosed in a small bag 
dangling at his waist. It seemed to be the fashion 
of the country not to cut the beard, in the nice 
arrangement of which they appeared to take parti- 
cular pride : that of the senior chief was nearly a 
foot long, while those of the two others, though 
much shorter, were evidently cherished with great 
care. 

When our visiters had satisfied themselves with 



LOO-CHOO. 



139 



looking over the cabin, they returned to the shore, 
with a promise of returning in the evening, as soon 
as the answer about the pilots should be received 
from the great man. 

During the whole of this day the space between 
the ships and the shore was covered with canoes, 
each containing from eight to ten persons ; and 
the scene, as may be conceived, was exceedingly 
lively. As few of the parties who came to visit 
the ships remained long on board, a string of ca- 
noes was constantly passing backwards and for- 
wards, and the numbers which came in this way 
must have been very considerable. The natives 
expressed themselves highly gratified with being 
allowed to rove wherever they pleased over the 
ships, a license in no instance abused. The man- 
ners of our new acquaintances, even of the very 
lowest class, struck us as being particularly good ; 
their curiosity indeed, was great, but it never made 
them rude, like the ungracious Coreans. Their 
•anguage which was not unmusical in its sounds 
we found, in most cases, easy of pronunciation. 
Of music too they had some knowledge, as we 
discovered in the course of this evening : one of 
the canoes, about an hour after sun-set, dropped 
under the stern of the Lyra, and while lying there the 
crew sung several very sweet and plaintive songs. 
We tried in vain to catch the words, arid unfortu- 
nately none of us had sufficient skill to note down 
the air. Several of the natives we observed ma- 
king drawings of the ships, while others were busi- 
ly taking notes ; but they hastily concealed their 
work when detected. 

In consequence, I suppose, of what had been 
suid during the interview with the chiefs the eve- 



140 



LOO-CHOO. 



ning before, of our being in want of repairs, a party 
of native shipwrights and caulkers was sent on 
board the Alceste this morning ; but their tools, 
though extremely neat, and not unlike ours in 
construction, from being very diminutive, were 
quite unsuited to the rough species of work re- 
quired. 

It would be tedious to describe the variety of 
colour and of pattern in the dresses of the people. 
Many wore printed cottons evidently stamped by 
blocks, but some of the patterns were so irregular 
that they must have been drawn by the hand. 
Blue, in all its shades, was the predominant colour, 
a remark which will apply, more or less, to every 
eastern country. Many of these patterns bore no 
inconsiderable resemblance to some of the ordi- 
nary tartans of Scotland. The children in gene- 
ral were dressed in more gaudy colours than their 
seniors ; but we could not learn what dresses the 
women used, not a single female having yet made 
her appearance. Every man even of the lowest 
class buckled round his waist one of the girdles 
before described, which was always of a different 
colour from the other parts of the dress ; and 
most of them were ornamented with flowers 
wrought in silk, and sometimes with gold and sil- 
ver threads. 

Loose flowing drapery of this description is 
naturally so graceful, that the appearance even of 
the poorest boatmen had something in it very plea- 
sing and picturesque. Their hair, which was inva- 
riably of a glossy jet black, being collected at the 
top of the head from all sides, and there formed 
into a handsome knot, served effectually to cover 
their shaven crowns. Through this bow or bunch 



roo-cnoo 



141 



of hair two large polished silver or brass pins were 
thrust crosswise. The top of one of those orna- 
ments was fashioned into the shape of a six-leaved 
flower ; and the whole formed a very becoming 
head-dress. Their beards and mustachios, which 
were universally allowed to grow, were kept neat 
and smooth, and always nicely trimmed. 

In stature the people of Loo-Choo are rather 
low, but well formed. Their style of walking is 
slow, and somewhat stately, suiting very well with 
the flowing drapery which they throw round them. 
Their colour is not good, being mostly of a deep 
copper ; but the expression of their countenance 
is peculiarly sweet and intelligent. Their eyes, 
which are black, have a remarkably placid expres- 
sion ; and their teeth are regular and beautifully 
white In general deportment they are modest, 
somewhat timid, and always respectful ; and it is 
impossible not to feel kindly towards them. 

Two of the chiefs who had visited us in the 
morning, and whose names we discovered to be 
Ookooma and Jeema, came on board again about 
half past five in the evening, and staid an hour. 
No answer had yet been received, they said, from 
the Great Man, and therefore pilots could not be 
sent, as they had promised, to the little ship. 
They were accompanied by another chief, whom 
we suspected to be a Chinese, not only from his 
looks, but from his appearing to understand the 
interpreter much better than any of his companions 
had done : his formal and suspicious behaviour on 
one or two occasions pleased us little. Their ob- 
ject in coming was to intimate that a present of 
Jive stock and vegetables had been sent to the ships. 
Advantage was taken of the occasion to signify 



L00-CH00. 



our intention of landing next day ; and when, a» 
we had expected, they objected to our proposal, 
the propriety of our waiting upon the Great Man 
was stated as our reason. This argument they at- 
tempted to meet, by gravely asserting that no per- 
son at all answering to our description resided 
here ; a most unceremonious retraction of their 
former assertions. Vv'e then said, it was at least 
indispensable that we should return the many obli- 
ging visits they themselves had paid us. But they 
were determined to debate every point, and repli- 
ed, that they were merely poor insignificant men, 
far inferior in rank to us. and not in the least degree 
entitled to any such honour as we proposed to pay 
them : adding, that we should be degrading our- 
selves by such unusual and unheard-of condescen- 
sion. Captain Maxwell, amused with their inge- 
nuity, but unwilling to give up the point, next told 
thorn that his health had been impaired by the 
same causes which had weakened his ship, and that 
he required exercise on shore to re-establish his 
strength. Upon hearing this, our new acquaint- 
ance, the chief who was mistaken for a Chinese, 
and who seemed more earnestly bent against our 
landing than any of his companions, instantly offer- 
ed to send a physician on board who was skilful in 
such cases. Captain Maxwell laughed, and thank- 
ed him for his obliging attention, but said his own 
doctor had already strongly recommended a ride 
as the most likely thing to do him good. The na- 
tives now perceived that Captain Maxwell was 
merely jesting with them : for when he held out 
his brawny arm, and declared that he was as thin 
as a lath, they all laughed very heartily, and the 



LOO-CHOO, 



143 



discourse, by mutual consent, was changed to some- 
thing else. 

We found it always a great affair in our inter- 
course with the natives, to get them fairly to laugh 
along with us. There is something so infectious in 
hearty good humour that we often find an acci- 
dental joke coming from either side, extend its in- 
fluence to the whole party, and accomplish in a 
moment the object on which much grave discussion 
has been expended to no purpose. But the joke 
did not succeed in this instance to the full extent 
of our wishes ; for every proposal to land, and in- 
deed every allusion to the shore, was industriously 
put aside. As it was our wish, however, to gain 
their good will gradually, the disagreeable matter 
was dropped for the present. Before the chiefs 
left the cabin, Captain Maxwell pointed to their 
pipes, and gave them to understand, through the 
interpreter, that he wished them to smoke in his 
cabin whenever they felt disposed to do so ; a per- 
mission for which they expressed much gratitude. 
They would on no account begin, however, till we 
had shown the example, by smoking with pipes pre- 
pared by themselves. In climates where this prac- 
tice is the common fashion, a single whiff of to- 
bacco-smoke often blows away much misunder- 
standing and ill will In all countries, indeed, to- 
bacco in one shape or another is a very sociable 
luxury ; much has been done by the friendly offer 
of a pinch of snuff ; and I have seen the good will 
of a whole Spanish village secured by a few bunches 
of tobacco leaves. After smoking and chatting, 
therefore, for some time, the chiefs took leave for 
the night, both parties feeling on much more friendly 
terms than before. 

On the 18th of September, Captain Maxwell 



L00-CH00. 



sent to me in the course of the morning, to say ho 
wished me to land along with him on a promontory 
at some distance from the town, in order to observe 
the sun's meridian altitude with an artificial hori- 
zon. But just as I was setting out to accompany 
him, I was stopped by the arrival of two very w T ell- 
dressed natives, who had boarded us with such 
despatch that they were balf-way down the cabin- 
ladder before I knew of their approach. One of 
them, I found, had come to superintend the mea- 
surement of the Lyra, for which purpose his as- 
sistant had brought with him two long black cords, 
and several rods of different lengths and sizes. • As 
soon as permission was given, they proceeded to 
measure and record in their books the length and 
breadth of the deck, the depth of hold, and in 
short every dimension of the brig. The other na- 
tive who accompanied the surveyor, and seemed 
of an inferior rank to his companion, had come on 
beard to explain why some poultry, only now sent, 
had not reached us the evening before along with 
the other presents. The presents alluded to con- 
sisted of a good fat bullock, two hogs, two goats, 
a dozen and a half of fowls, some bundles of can- 
dles, two or three piles of wood, and about fifty 
jars of water, which had been sent to the Lyra, at 
the same time with about four times as many of 
the same articles to the Alceste. I requested 
them to sit down, and they were so well satisfied 
with the Constantia wine and cherry brandy which 
was given them, that they remained longer than I 
had calculated upon ; and in consequence of the 
delay I did not reach the shore till the period for 
observing the sun had gone by. 

Captain Maxwell was on the beach in conver 
s.ation with Ookooma and several of the chiefs. 



3L00-CHOO. 



145 



surrounded by an immense crowd of the natives, 
who had left the town on seeing* the boats row to 
the shore, and hastened to this spot, out of curio- 
sity to watch our proceedings. The bustle and 
crowding soon became so great, that Ookooma, 
who appeared to possess considerable authority, 
ordered the whole assembly, chiefs not excepted, 
to sit down in a circle on the grass, leaving suffi- 
cient room for us to place the instruments. 

Astonishment at our operations was strongly 
expressed in every countenance ; and, indeed, the 
brilliant appearance of the apparatus, and the mys- 
terious nature of our behaviour, may well have 
seemed to such people somewhat magical. In the 
first place, the quicksilver used to form a horizon- 
tal reflecting surface, and appearing like melted 
metal, was poured into a trough, in a fine stream, 
from a wooden bottle ; whilst it was running out, 
the people repeated in an under tone, " Yi, yi, yi! n 
imitating, perhaps, the peculiar sound which mer- 
cury makes when poured from one vessel to an- 
other ; but they all remained silent as soon as the 
glass roof was placed over this tremulous mirror 
to shelter it from the wind. The circular instru- 
ment and sextant being then taken from their cases 
and fixed on stands, it was communicated to the 
people that they must not move or speak ; they 
accordingly looked on in profound silence, and 
remained perfectly still while we were taking the 
sun's altitude. As the time had passed for the 
meridian observation, the instruments were set up 
merely to amuse the natives by allowing them to 
look at the two images of the sun seen through 
the telescope. For about a minute no one would 
come forward : at length Ookooma, being the hisrh- 
13 



146 



LOO-CHOO. 



est in rank, ventured, evidently with some little 
apprehension, to place himself at the instrument. 
Being quite unprepared, he started back in utter 
astonishment when the two brilliant suns met his 
eye, as if frightened at having unconsciously be- 
held something supernatural. The other chiefs in 
their turn looked through the telescope, followed 
by several old men, who stepped forward from the 
crowd and asked permission to take a peep. Some 
of them testified their surprise by a sudden excla- 
mation ; others were so perfectly unmoved by 
what they saw, that we could form no guess what 
they thought : while some held up their hands, 
shook their heads mysteriously, and after looking 
again and again at the object of their wonder, 
seemed to consider the whole matter as one total- 
ly beyond the reach of ordinary comprehension. 
When each of the persons of consequence present 
had satisfied himself, and there was no longer any 
necessity for the crowd being seated, they were 
allowed to close round, and watch us while putting 
up the instruments. A few of them begged to 
examine the telescopes more particularly, and some 
little boys held out their hands for a drop of quick- 
silver, with which they scampered off quite de- 
lighted. 

During this time we were about fifty yards from 
the bottom of a cliff, on the brow of which a group 
of women, with baskets on their heads, had taken 
their station. The distance from the spot was 
unfortunately too great for their features to be 
distinguished, or even for their dress to be seen 
distinctly. Their robes or gowns appeared, how- 
ever, not unlike those worn by the men, but rather 



L00-CH00. 



147 



shorter, and without the embroidered girclie round 
the waist. ' 

The rocks at this part of the coast rise in per- 
pendicular rugged cliffs of lime-stone, with a num- 
ber of rude square excavations, which at first sight 
appear to have been worn by the elements, but on 
farther examination show evident traces of art. 
Most of these caves were closed up by a wall of 
loose stones ; and in one, the mouth of which 
happened to be open, several human bones were 
discovered lying among the sand. On removing 
some stones from another of the caves, a vase of 
an elegant shape was observed standing nearly in 
the centre. The people gave us to understand that 
these urns contained the remains of the dead. But 
we could not ascertain distinctly whether the whole 
body, or merely the ashes, were preserved in this 
careful manner. Neither the chiefs nor the popu- 
lace made any objection to our inspecting the 
caves, though they certainly were not much pleased 
with our proceedings. No notice was taken of 
what Captain Maxwell did, whom they considered 
privileged to do what he liked ; but Mr. Clifford, 
who had remained below on the beach, collecting 
Loo-Choo words for his vocabulary from some in- 
telligent natives, was strongly recommended by 
Ookooma to go back to the boat. Instead of doing 
so, however, he turned about, and walked without 
farther opposition to the cave which we were ex- 
amining, and as soon as he joined Captain Maxwell's 
party, they ceased to importune him. Whilst we 
were thus employed, a parcel of little boys, who had 
observed us pulling flowers and plants, and some- 
times breaking specimens of the rocks, ran about 
making botanical and geological collections, in 



148 



LOO-CHOO. 



playful imitation of ours, and after presentmg'to us 
"what they had heaped together, with grave polite- 
ness, laughed in our faces, and made their escape, 
with an arch expression of ridicule at our idle 
curiosity. 

Instead of going directly off to the ships, after 
we had quitted the beach, we skirted along the 
outer edge of the coral, which every where fringes 
the shore, and by this means obtained a near view 
of a stone bridge, of one semicircular arch, con- 
necting two parts of the town. On the south side 
of this bridge we passed a space of about four 
acres in extent, probably set apart as a burying- 
ground of Napakiang, the name, as we learned to* 
day, of this city. Within the enclosure we ob- 
served some buildings, which from being shaped 
like a horse-e-hoe, and similar to what we had 
noticed every where on the coast of China, we 
knew to be tombs. All of these were, as usual, 
carefully whitewashed and kept in good repair. 
Most of the other edifices, also conjectured to be 
tombs, were in the form of small square houses, 
with low pyramidal roofs, some covered with red 
tiles, and others with thatch, but all of them with- 
out windows. The natives expressed so much 
uneasiness when we proposed to land for the pur- 
pose of examining these places more minutely, 
that the idea was relinquished. 

The coast at Xapakiang is of fawn-coloured, 
granulated lime-stone, the base of the cliffs appear- 
ing to have been scooped out by the action of the 
sea. As this excavation is at least twenty feet 
higher than the sea can possibly have reached, 
situated as the land now is, there is at first sight 
some difficulty in assigning the sea as the cause of 



LOO-CHOO, 



149 



the excavations. The roof is exactly horizontal 
for a great extent, and its appearance in every re- 
spect, suggests that it has been formed by the 
dashing of the waves, and that the tide, which is 
now many perpendicular feet below, had once 
flowed into these caverns. To suppose that the 
sea has retired here, and not elsewhere, is obvious- 
ly impossible : the only theory, therefore, which 
will explain the phenomenon, is to imagine a gene- 
ral elevation of this part of the coast by the action 
of an expansive force from beneath. 

The scenery of Loo-Choo, which lies in the la- 
titude of 26 Q N., though not quite so rich, is even 
more pleasing to the eye than in countries nearer 
the equator, because the vegetation is not so pro- 
fusely luxuriant as to overload the picture with 
mere foliage, often to the exclusion of every thing 
else. Here, also, there is much variety ; and the 
groves of pine-trees give some parts of the island 
quite a European character ; while the style of 
the landscape is still, upon the whole, decidedly 
tropical. 

On the 19th of September, as no answer had 
yet come from the great man who was spoken of 
some days before, we began to apprehend that 
these cautious people intended to exclude us from 
their country altogether. We tried in vain to dis- 
cover whether the king, as we strongly suspected, 
was at this place, or, as they said, at a hundred or 
a thousand miles off ; but they eluded all our in- 
quiries, and when they saw us upon a wrong scent, 
very dexterously kept us in the line we had taken 
up. On such occasions, a traveller's busy fancy 
often misleads him ; the least hint of a new fact 
sends his speculations abroad, and his readv jour- 
13* 



150 



LGO-CHOG. 



nal soon becomes the receptacle of many an un- 
substantial theory, which he has seldom the means 
of verifying or disproving afterwards. So that, 
with the most honest intentions, he is perpetually 
liable to become the unconscious recorder of error. 

By means of a telescope, a large building was 
distinctly made out on a rising ground, three or 
four miles from the harbour of Napakiang, in a 
north-eastern direction, which was rendered still 
more conspicuous by two flag-staffs erected near 
it. We concluded immediately that this could be 
no other than the palace mentioned in an old Chi- 
nese account of Loo-Choo, quoted by Pere Gaubil, 
a very amusing Jesuit, who writes in the Lettres 
Edifiantes et Curieuses, vol. XXIII. But as the 
natives always refused to give any information 
about this building, we remain ignorant of its 
nature. 

As often as the natives came on board, what- 
ever their business might be, if tolerably well 
dressed, they were always shown to the cabin, and 
treated with sweet wine and cakes. In the course 
of conversation, they generally contributed many 
new words to Mr. Clifford's vocabulary ; and wil- 
lingly lent their assistance as soon as the object 
was explained, taking great pains also to teach us 
the true pronunciation of each word. It happened 
at Loo-Choo, however, as in other quarters of the 
globe, that a stupid fellow would now and then 
turn up ; and one morning, accordingly, a pompous 
grave sort of person came to us on some errand or 
other, and as usual, he was handed to the cabin, 
where he was well plied with Constantia, while 
Mr. Clifford, who devoted himself entirely to the 
acquisition of the language, set about extracting 



LOO-CHOO. 151 

new words from his guest. In pursuit of this pur- 
pose, he prevailed on the stranger to taste first 
something sour, then something sweet, and so on, 
that he might learn the Loo-Choo words for these 
adjectives. The poor man, who did not in the 
least comprehend what was wanted, not a little 
amazed, sat very solemnly eating what was given 
him, until a morsel of quassia was put into his 
mouth, in order to discover the native word for 
bitter. The instant he tasted this horrible drug, 
he imagined we meant to poison him, and jumping 
on his feet, with a look of horror hurried on deck, 
scrambled as fast as he could over the gangway 
into his boat, which he instantly pushed off, and 
never stopped or looked back until he reached the 
shore. 

It blew very hard all the morning, and there was, 
in consequence, little intercourse with the shore : 
but towards sunset, when the wind as usual mode- 
rated, Ookooma, Jeema, and four other chiefs, 
came on board the Alceste, bringing us a present 
of a bullock, two hogs, several goats, and some 
baskets of vegetables. We learned the name of 
one of the principal chiefs to be Shayoon ; he w 7 as 
the most clever of the party, and generally took 
the lead in all important discussions. His look 
was quick and penetrating, and there was more 
determination in his manner than in that of any of 
his companions. These chiefs were extremely 
punctiilious, on occasions of ceremony, to observe 
the order of precedence, and no one ever sat dow T n 
whilst his superior was standing. When any sub- 
ject was discussed, one at a time rose to speak, but 
not in the order of rank ; they never interrupted one 
another, nor betrayed the least impatience to speak 



152 



LOO-CHOO. 



whilst we were addressing them, however decided- 
ly we might differ in opinion : and during our 
whole stay on the island, I do not recollect one in- 
stance in which their behaviour was not regulated 
by the most perfect good breeding. 

Just as this day's conference was commencing, 
the weather again began to look so stormy, that I 
felt uneasy at being away from my own ship, and 
accordingly went on board the Lyra, to prepare for 
a gale, and by this means lost an interesting con- 
ference which followed with the chiefs. I learned 
from Captain Maxwell afterwards, that he had 
taken this occasion to remonstrate with them on 
their inconsistency, and pretended difficulty of 
getting answers from the court. He begged them 
to recollect, that it was not treating the King of 
England with due respect, to deny his officers per- 
mission to walk on shore, and reminded them of a 
solemn promise to send pilots, none of whom had 
come : and that many other assurances had in like 
manner been neglected. He then desired the in- 
terpreter to say. how much he was displeased with 
their telling him so many different stories, all of 
which could not be true ; and, lastly, urged them 
strongly to tell him the truth in future, and no 
longer to attempt deceiving him by such unworthy 
artifices. When Captain Maxwell had ended this 
speech, the chiefs obliged the interpreter to repeat 
over the different parts of it five or six times, and 
as soon as they understood it, they held a council 
of war among themselves for at least half an hour. 
When this was over, they formally assured Cap- 
tain Maxwell that a reply to their communications 
-to government would certainly reach him next 
day. 



LOO-CHOO. 183 

Iii the course of these long and grave delibera- 
tions about trifles, we were often reminded of the 
discussions in Gulliver's Travels, where the people 
of Lilliput were about as much perplexed what to 
do with their Man Mountain, as the innocent and 
almost as helpless inhabitants of Loo-Choo were 
how to dispose of us. Their means of resistance, 
had we chosen to use force, were not much greater. 
Our study, however, was to imitate the policy of 
the veracious traveller alluded to, and not to give 
offence merely because we were strong ; but, if 
possible, to gain our object by patience and gentle- 
ness. Yet as the daily supplies received by the 
ships had by this time amounted to a considerable 
quantity, a bag of dollars was offered to the chiefs, 
who were urged to take payment to any extent 
they chose for the provisions they had sent on 
board. As this offer, which had been made more 
than once before, was still declined, Captain Max- 
well gave them to understand, that he considered it 
not fitting for him, while serving the English go- 
vernment, to receive presents to such an extent 
from any private persons whatever. When this 
was interpreted to the chiefs, they hastened to 
assure him, that all the stock and other things bad 
been sent on board by the express order of the 
Loo-Choo government, on their being informed 
that the king of another country's ships had arrived ; 
and this being the case, no payment, they said, 
could possibly be taken. With this explicit assu- 
rance Captain Maxwell was compelled to remain 
satisfied. Their wish in this matter, and indeed in 
every other instance, evidently was, to prevent our 
opening any sort of communication, direct or indi- 
rect, with the government. At first we had hopes 



154 



LOO-CHOO. 



of being able to overcome these jealousies and 
scruples, but the natives appeared so persevering, 
that we began seriously to apprehend they would 
succeed in keeping us altogether at bay, notwith- 
standing every pacific effort on our part to the con- 
trary. Meanwhile, teazing as all this was, Cap- 
tain Maxwell was resolved that no motive of cu- 
riosity should tempt him to infringe in the least 
degree on customs which these people considered 
sacred. In this respect his forbearance and self- 
denial were beyond all praise, and only excelled 
by his invincible good humour, qualities useful 
enough at all times, but of infinite importance to 
an officer engaged on such a service as the present. 
But there were not wanting persons of our num- 
ber, who at the time disapproved of these gentle 
and patient measures, though there can be no 
doubt now, that to their influence alone we eventu- 
ally owed all our familiarity with this amiable but 
timorous people. If a favourable impression of 
our country, therefore, be left in this remote island, 
it is entirely due to the discretion and skill with 
which our early intercourse was managed by Cap- 
tain Maxwell. 

The change which had taken place in the wea- 
ther, showed us that the chiefs put on different 
dresses according to the season of the year. This 
day being cold, and the sky threatening rain, they 
all came on board with a sort of cloak or great- 
coat, made of thick blue woollen cloth, buttoned 
in front, tighter than the ordinary dress over which 
it was worn. It was only in fine weather, and on 
particular occasions of ceremony, that they wore 
the band turban formerly described, and called by 
them "hatchee matchee at all other times their 



Loo-euoo. 



155 



heads were left uncovered, and the hair dressed in 
a top knot, with pins thrust into it, exactly in "the 
manner practised by the rest of the people. 

During the night preceding the 20th of Septem- 
ber, the mercury in the barometer fell from 29. 
72. to 29. 51., a considerable depression for that 
latitude. As the sun went down, the sky assumed 
a yellow appearance, which, reflected from the sea, 
cast a dismal and lurid appearance over every 
thing. We calculated upon experiencing a severe 
tempest, more especially, it was thought, as the 
equinox was near, a period, in the opinion of some 
seamen, peculiarly liable to storms. In the end it 
blew a hard gale of wind, but as our anchorage 
was sheltered by the land, it was hardly felt, 
though at sea it must have been unpleasant, and to 
a vessel under weigh among the islands very dan- 
gerous. 

Three or four boats came round the south-west 
point of land early in the morning ; the crews of 
which were evidently strangers, and were supposed 
to have come from the other side of the island, as 
they appeared not to have seen the ships before. 
One of these people was greatly delighted with a 
looking-glass which was shown him ; after gazing 
intently on it for some time, he held it up, and cal- 
ling eagerly to his companions about him, showed 
them its wonderful effects. Having repeated this 
display to his fellow-boatmen, he held it opposite 
to his own face for four or five minutes without 
altering his countenance in the smallest degree. 
At length he smiled, and immediately nodded as- 
sent to the reflected image in the glass, pleased, no 
doubt, with seeing so correct an expression of what 
was passing in his own mind at the moment. He 



LOO-CHO©. 



seemed eonscious, however, that it was merely a 
reflection of his own countenance, as he pointed 
several times from the image to himself. Yet not- 
withstanding this conviction, he could not alto- 
gether restrain his curiosity, and actually looked 
behind the mirror after the manner of a monkey, 
but instantly turned it round again, as if ashamed 
of having done so, and handed it to his compa- 
nions. 

While the glass was under inspection, they made 
us several long speeches, in which they frequently 
repeated the word Ka-gung. the Loo-Choo name 
for mirror ; but we inferred from his behaviour, 
that he knew it only by name. It is natural enough 
that a cat or a monkey should be puzzled with a 
looking-glass, but we can scarcely suppose any ra- 
tional creature, especially one whose occupation 
lies on the water, not to be familiar with reflected 
images. The native in question, however, may 
never before have seen an artificial surface of this 
kind ; and his delight is easily accounted for with- 
out supposing, as some of our party did, that he 
actually believed another person was behind the 
glass. One of these people wished to sell both his 
Jeewas, or head ornaments, for a wine-glass ; some 
time afterwards one of his fellow-boatmen spied a 
bottle, and wonder-struck with the strange sight, 
wanted to make a similar exchange ; but these 
bargains being quite out of proportion, the bottles 
and glass on which they set so much value were 
given them : and some trinkets being presented to 
each man in the boat, they paddled away well 
satisfied with their visit. 

The canoes, which were made of pine-trees hol- 
lowed out, averaged from twelve to twenty feet in 



L00-CH00. 



157 



length, and about four in width : their anchor was 
rudely fashioned out of two crooked branches, fas- 
tened back to back, and loaded with stones. 

As no answer came this morning from their 
mysterious, invisible great man, Captain Maxwell 
removed the ships into a more secure spot at the 
north-east corner of the bay. The first anchorage 
had been much too close to an ugly reef of coral 
rocks, besides being exposed to the south-west 
winds. The birth we now shifted to though to all 
appearance quite as open to the sea, was in fact 
sheltered by a chain of rocks lying under water, at 
the distance of half a mile outside of the ships to 
the westward. By this change, the Lyra was 
brought close to the bridge before spoken of, and 
nearly abreast of the eastern end of the town, not 
quite a quarter of a mile from the shore. A strict 
watch was kept by the natives, night and day, on 
all parts of the beach, so that a boat could not leave 
the ships without being instantly observed. This 
was soon discovered by the officers sent to sound 
and examine the new anchorage ; for whenever 
they approached the shore, a crowd of natives, 
headed by one or other of the chiefs, soon hurried 
to the spot, and made the most anxious signs for 
them to keep farther off. 

On the 21st of September there appeared to be 
some embargo laid upon the canoes, as not a single 
one came near the Lyra during the whole morning, 
and only one went on board the Alceste. It was 
found necessary, on examining the ground more 
carefully, to move the frigate still farther inshore, 
to a secure nook, or cove, formed by the meeting 
of two ledges of coral, the brilliant colours of which 
were distinctly seen through the water when tfie 
H 



158 



LOOCHOO. 



sua shone upon them. For this purpose, four or 
five hawsers were laid out for the purpose of war- 
ping her ahead. While this evolution was in 
progress, not only the beach, but all the high 
grounds near us, and all the tombs, before descri- 
bed, were crowded with people, wondering, and 
not unreasonably, to se N e the ship move steadily 
along without sails, as if by magic ; for the ropes 
used to draw her ahead being led into the hawse- 
holes on the side farthest from the shore, could 
scarcely be seen by the natives. In the solitary ca- 
noe which visited the Alceste, there came two 
intelligent natives, entire strangers to us, who 
remained but a short time on board, and occupied 
themselves exclusively during their stay in exami- 
ning the haw r sers, and the mode of warping the 
ship. The perfect silence with which the whole 
of this operation was carried on, although upwards 
of three hundred people were in active employment, 
appeared to strike them more than anything else. 
At least we conjectured so, from their gestures, 
and the looks of admiration with which they gazed 
on what seemed inextricable confusion, but was in 
fact the most perfect order. As soon as they had 
made themselves masters of the subject, they went 
on shore, probably to make their report. During 
the visit they spoke very little, being deeply engros- 
sed by what was going on ; but the interpreter 
learned from one of them, that a certain great man, 
if not the original Great Unknown so often alluded 
to, had actually come to Napakiang, or was ex- 
pected in the town before night. 

A report prevailed on board both the ships for a 
day or two about this time, which was universally 
believed by the sailors, that the king of the island 



LOOCHGO. 



159 



had been among us in disguise. We could never 
trace the report to any good foundation, but it was 
certainly false, and probably the work of some wag 
- — a description of person always ready on such 
occasions to publish packets, as the trick is called 
on board ship, when there happens to be little em- 
ployment stirring. At the same time, if his majesty 
really had any curiosity, it is not unlikely that he 
might have come to Napakiang to have a nearer 
view of such a strange sight as our great vessels 
must have proved to him. 

In the meanwhile, as the natives were resolved 
not to allow us to take a nearer view of them, we 
amused ourselves by observing what was going on 
by means of a telescope fixed on a stand upon the 
poop. The stone bridge, which appeared to be a 
great thoroughfare, was our principal attraction ; 
for several roads from the country met near it, and 
this was evidently the great northern entrance to 
the town. Not a single person crossed without 
stopping to take a good look at the ships, and a 
crowd of idle people, whom we soon learned to re- 
cognize, generally made it their post for many hours 
every day. We saw numerous parties of women 
coming from the country, generally with loaded 
baskets on their heads. The outer dress of these 
females differed from that of the men, being left 
open in front at the upper part, and having no 
girdle to confine it. They wore besides an under 
dress, also loose, but not open, which in some in- 
stances, we could discover reached nearly to the 
feet, in others hardly to the knees ; and we sus- 
pected that those who worked in the fields wore 
the short dress. Most of the women allowed their 
upper garment to flow out with the wind behind 



LOO-CHOO. 



them in a very picturesque manner, and such as to 
enable us to describe the particulars so minutely. 
We observed a woman carrying a child on the hip, 
in the manner of Hindostan, the infant's hands be- 
ing clasped together on its mother's shoulder, 
while her arm was thrown round its waist. We 
Observed a young lady on the bridge amusing her- 
self for some time by making a dog bark at the 
ships, to the great diversion of a cluster of urchins 
of both sexes mounted on the parapet. On the 
banks of the stream over which the bridge was 
thrown, were seen groups of people washing 
clothes in the Indian fashion, by first dipping them 
in the water, and then beating them soundly on 
stones, a method effectual in more ways than one, 
as the wardrobe of every man who has been in the 
East Indies can testify. From one end of the 
white sandy beach to the other, and on the sunny 
banks of the ground above, a multitude of the in- 
habitants remained lounging ail day long, occupied 
with nothing but looking at the strangers. 

Orwi. craggy knoll abreast of the ships, along 
the sides of which were several patches of rich 
grass, we observed a group of elderly men seated 
on the ground, with a fine majestic-looking figure 
standing in the middle addressing them, like St. 
Paul in Raphael's Cartoon. Indeed, without much 
help from the imagination, the resemblance was 
most striking : the dress of these people was the 
same as that adopted by the painter ; the fashion 
of wearing the beard exactly the same ; and as 
they were unconscious of being observed, they had 
grouped themselves in those unconstrained and 
picturesqe attitudes, which it is the business of an 
artist to observe and combine, but which are per- 



L0G-CH00. 



haps beyond his reach to conceive, without such 
hints from nature. 

Early in the morning of the 22d of September, 
an unusual number of flags were displayed on all 
the masts of the vessels in the inner harbour, and 
there was evidently something remarkable going 
on. Not a single boat, however, came off to us, 
and we had therefore no occupation but looking 
through the glass, which continued to afford much 
entertainment, particularly as the people whom we 
saw through it acted in their usual way, quite un- 
conscious of our scrutiny. 

About four o'clock, a number of boats were 
observed to leave the harbour, and to advance 
towards the Alceste in formal procession. In 
the foremost boat sat a stately figure, evidently 
a man of consequence, and whom, of course, we 
immediately set down as the long-expected great 
man. He had reached the Alceste before I got on 
board ; and I found him seated in the cabin, clo- 
thed in purple silk robes, and a light-coloured tur- 
ban of the country. In his hand he carried a 
large Chinese fan, and in other respects differed 
little from the chiefs, except in the richness of his 
attire. An official communication of our often- 
told history was once more made at his request, to 
which he listened with the greatest attention ; and 
when Captain Maxwell concluded his statement 
by telling that the ship was leaky, he begged, if it 
were not giving too much trouble, to be shown the 
operation of pumping out the water, possibly sus- 
pecting that this story of the leak was only an ex- 
cuse ; but this was exactly what we desired, and 
the chain-pumps were ordered to be got ready. In 
the meanwhile the conference went on, consisting 
14* 



162 



LOO-CHOO. 



principally of empty compliments. The chief ob- 
serving that we noticed his being a little deaf, seem- 
ed anxious to explain that this was the natural ef- 
fect of age, not of disease. He bared his wrist, 
made us feel his pulse, and called our attention to 
the shrivelled state of his hands, which he held up 
beside ours, and laughed with much good humour 
at the disadvantageous contrast which age had pro- 
duced. He appeared about sixty-five years of age, 
and wore a beard of thin hair, as white as snow. 
He was uniformly cheerful during his stay, and 
gained the good will of every one by his uncom- 
monly pleasing address : at the first glance, indeed, 
it was easy to discover his superiority in this re- 
spect over all the other chiefs. 

The pumps being soon reported ready, the chief 
was conducted in state to the main deck, where 
he sat for some time in great admiration of the 
machinery, manned by about twenty stout sailors, 
who only waited for orders to work the winches. 
At a signal from Captain Maxwell, the chains with 
the buckets were made to fly round, and a prodi- 
gious volume of water was discharged, to the un- 
speakable astonishment of the old man, whose 
doubts, if he had any, were fully removed by this 
display of our distressed condition. On observing 
the labour required to work the chain-pumps, and 
the quantity of water thrown out, he seemed really 
affected at our situation, which, judging from what 
he saw, he inferred must be bad enough. As 
the ship was upright, or what is called on an even 
keel, and the pumps were worked with unusual 
speed, the water, which could not run freely 
from the deck, in a short time flowed round the 
chair in which the chief was seated. Three or 



LOO-CHO©. 



163 



four sailors seeing him somewhat uneasy at this 
inundation, and receiving a hint from Captain Max- 
well, fairly lifted him up, chair and all, and transport- 
ed him to a dry spot. The old gentleman, though 
considerably surprised at this unexpected piece 
of politeness, was not in the least displeased, but 
bowed very graciously in return to the low salams 
which the sailors made him. 

This exhibition over, the whole party returned 
to the cabin, where they were entertained as usual 
with sweet wine, cherry brandy, and the never- 
failing tobacco-pipes, the old man very civilly un- 
dertaking to adjust ours for us. As soon as these 
essential particulars of an oriental conference were 
duly gone through, a formal requisition was ad- 
dressed to our visiter, for permission to land the 
Alceste's casks and stores, in order to stop the 
leak, the formidable effects of which he had just 
witnessed. This request caused the usual long 
discussion among the chiefs, in which, however, 
we were rather surprised to observe that our new 
acquaintance joined but little, though, when he 
did speak, his observations appeared to have con- 
siderable weight. Whenever any one of the 
chiefs spoke, he rose and addressed himself either 
to Captain Maxwell, or to the stranger, as the case 
might be, but always in the most respectful man- 
ner. 

At length they seemed to have settled among 
themselves what answer was to be given, and one 
of our old friends being deputed as spokesman, 
informed Captain Maxwell that as there was no 
place at Napakiang suited to the purposes he had 
spoken of, and as our present anchorage was by 
no means a safe one, the best thing would be for 



LOO-CHOO. 



him to sail away immediately to the harbour al- 
luded to at a former interview. At that place, 
called Oonting, we might put on shore, they told 
us, whatever articles we chose to land. On being 
asked if, in the harbour described, they were sure 
there was sufficient depth of water for a frigate to 
ride in safety, they entered into another long dis- 
cussion, during which they appeared to be recon- 
sidering the merits of the said harbour. It was 
evident they were apprehensive of giving it a high- 
er character than it should be found on examina- 
tion to deserve ; while, on the other hand, they 
were so anxious to remove us at all hazards, that 
they were unwilling to urge any delay. From 
this dilemma the old man extricated them very 
sensibly by suggesting, that the " Honee gua," or 
little slwp, should be despatched to see whether or 
not the harbour was adequate to the reception of 
the Alceste. To this proposal Captain Maxwell 
readily agreed, only requesting that one of the na- 
tives, acquainted with the north end of the island, 
might accompany us, that as little time as possible 
might be lost in the search. Simple as this pro- 
posal was, they took a long time to consider it, 
and ended by saving that no reply could be given 
till the next day. 

These unsophisticated Islanders appeared to 
have by intuition, for their practice could be but 
small, the crying sins of diplomacy in more en- 
lightened climates, mystery, and a dread of respon- 
sibility, or a fear of committing themselves. It 
was seldom possible, indeed, to place before them 
a proposition so simple, but exceptions would be 
taken, or difficulties conjured up where every thing 
iv as naturallv obvious and easy* 



165 



While this subject was under discussion, the old 
maa drew a piece of paper from his tobacco- 
pouch, and scrawled upon it a chart of the island, 
in order to point out the spot where the harbour 
lay. This drawing, though rude enough, was pro- 
ved afterwards, when we had ourselves surveyed 
the island, to possess considerable accuracy ; and 
it is much to be regretted that so curious a speci- 
men of Loo-Choo hydrography was lost. On 
many other occasions besides the present, we la- 
mented, when too late, having neglected to pre- 
serve documents, or to record incidents and con- 
versations of great eventual interest, although in- 
significant to all appearance at the moment. 

A traveller in so new a scene as this had need 
to exercise an extraordinary degree of vigilance in 
observing, and industry in recording, what he sees, 
if he hopes to transmit to his absent friends a cor- 
rect picture, without ornament or exaggeration, of 
what passes daily before his eyes. In every case 
of Journal writing, a selection of circumstances 
must be made, as it is manifestly impossible to re- 
cord the whole : but the traveller will often mis- 
take the interest which he himself feels, for that 
which he conceives the same circumstances, when 
described, will produce in others ; and, on the 
other hand, will frequently allow events to pass 
without notice, which, if told simply, would con- 
vey the very knowledge he wishes to impart. Both 
writers and artists are too apt to look out exclu- 
sively for remarkable, rather than ordinary and 
characteristic, features of the scene before them ; 
and thus false notions of foreign countries are of- 
ten conveyed to the minds of those persons for 
whose instruction the labour has been undertaken. 



166 



LOO-CHOO. 



The writer and the draughtsman ought, therefore, 
to look out not for what is rare, but for what, to 
borrow an apt term from geology, may be called 
average specimens — fragments not selected for 
anything remarkable, or as differing from what is 
around them, but, on the contrary, because they 
serve to show what is the general and familiar as- 
pect of the spot, which, in nine cases out often, is 
by far the most gratifying and instructive to per- 
sons at a distance. 

The chief himself, presently becoming tired of 
this long ceremony, was glad to have permission 
to range about the cabin, and to examine the globes, 
books, and pictures, which he did with the mi- 
nutest attention. The wainscotting seemed to in- 
terest him particularly, but nothing pleased him 
more than the mechanism of the joiners' work 
about the windows and the sliding shutters, which 
he pulled up and down a dozen times. Captain 
Maxwell tried to make him comprehend our track 
on the globe, — a difficult task, where the pupil has 
probably been taught to consider the world as a, 
Sat circle, with Pekin in the centre. On his beg- 
ging to be allowed to see the different parts of the 
ship, he was carried round the deck, accompanied 
by the other chiefs, and his own personal suite. 
First of all followed close at his elbow his pipe- 
bearer, a most indispensable person ; next to him 
came a poor fellow groaning under the weight of a 
huge chair, accompanied by the bearer of a red 
cloth for his Excellency's feet to rest upon ; and 
next to him marched an attendant carrying the 
hatchee-matchee box, finely japanned. Wherever 
the chief walked he was attended by two men, one 
on each side, whose sole business was to fan him, 



LOO-CHOO. 



This was sometimes a ludicrous enough operation, 
for while one of them held up the great sleeve of 
his robe, the other, placing himself opposite to the 
opening, impelled a current of air along the arm ; 
and it was with some difficulty that we restrained 
the mirth of the younger part of the spectators, as 
the procession passed. When the chief, with his 
friends and attendants, returned to the cabin from 
his long and amusing voyage of discovery, he sat 
down quite exhausted, and accepted a glass of 
wine and a biscuit most cheerfully. While thus 
occupied, the old man seeing Mr. Clifford pulling 
off his gloves, asked leave to examine and try 
them on. With the right glove he succeeded very 
well, but the nails of his left hand being about an 
inch and a half long, he found it not so easy a mat- 
ter. He seemed to look upon gloves as very odd 
articles of dress, and laughing heartily, held them 
up to the view of the other chiefs. This disagree- 
able fashion of allowing the nails to grow, is a 
clumsy device borrowed from the Chinese, among 
whom it is considered a distinctive mark of riches, 
implying that the wearer is not reduced to manual 
labour, which under such circumstances would be 
impossible. The occasion furnishes one example 
out of many which we saw every day of the force 
of habit in rendering us blind to our own absurdi- 
ties. These natives laughed heartily at the oddity 
of such a curious contrivance as a glove ; but none 
of them could be made to understand why it was 
ridiculous to allow the nails to grow an inch or 
two beyond the finger ends. 

When the interview was over, the old man bow- 
ed to me, and said he meant to visit my skip also ; 
but as this seemed merely a civil speech, I begged 



168 



LOOCHOO. 



him not to think cf taking so much trouble, and 
he, in his turn, expressed himself particularly 
obliged to me for being satisfied with the mere 
offer of a visit and thus the matter ended. 

The Ambassador's barge was now manned to 
take the chief on shore, but as soon as he under- 
stood what was intended, he positively declared he 
could land in no boat but his own. As it was 
supposed that his diffidence prevented his accept- 
ing this attention, he was urged to overcome his 
scruples, and land in the manner proposed : he 
still, however, declined the honour, but at last, ra- 
ther than seem obstinate about a trifle, stepped 
down the accommodation ladder, and seated him- 
self for an instant in the barge, then rose up and 
made a bow to Captain Maxwell, as if to acknow- 
ledge the attention, but immediately removed with 
his suite into his own boat, which he had ordered 
to lie alongside the barge in readiness to receive 
him. A salute was then fired from each ship, du- 
ring which he and bis attendants stood up, and the 
boatmen were directed to lie on their oars. 

It was Captain Maxwell's intention to return 
this visit next day, but he took care not to say so 
during the discussions in the cabin, knowing well 
that a proposal to this effect would be stoutly com- 
bated, and perhaps overruled. But no sooner had 
the last of the chiefs taken his seat in the boat, 
than the interpreter was desired to say, that, as a 
matter of course, the chiefs visit would be return- 
ed on shore next morning. Exactly as Captain 
Maxwell had foreseen, this declaration met with 
anything but approbation from the chiefs, who laid 
their heads together for some time, and at last 
made a si?n to the interpreter to come into the 



iOO-GHOO. 



boat. Every persuasion was used to convince 
him of the excessive impropriety of our landing ; 
but they could not succeed in making him yield 
his assent to this point, and at length went away 
sadly perplexed and disconcerted. 

The interpreter, who was called John by all 
parties, Loo-Chooans as well as English, though 
merely an under-servant of the Factory at Canton, 
was a very shrewd fellow. His English was unfor- 
tunately not the best, and probably the Chinese 
which he spoke was some base patois, so that mis- 
understandings were no doubt often caused by his 
erroneous interpretation. But this was beyond 
remedy ; and although it plagued us occasionally, 
the difficulty of communicating perhaps added, 
upon the whole, to the interest of our intercourse 
with the natives. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FEAST GIVEN EY THE LOO-CHOO CHIEFS — CORAL 
REEFS INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. 

During the early part of the morning of the 23d, 
we were busied in getting ready such presents as 
we could think of for the chief whom we were to 
visit, But as we had not contemplated before- 
hand any proceedings like these, we were a little 
at a loss to settle what should be given in return 
for his liberal donation : for he had sent off, after 
he landed the day before, some live stock and ve- 
getables to each ship. The portion appropriated 
to , the Lyra consisted of a good fat hosr. a very 
25 



1 TO 



LOO-CHOG. 



handsome goat, two bags of sweet potatoes, a 
basket of charcoal, thirty bundles of eggs, and a 
jar of clear ardent spirits like whiskey, besides 
many piles of gourds, pumpkins, and melons. 
Three or four times as much was sent to the 
Alceste. 

After a good deal of consideration, it was agreed 
that Captain Maxwell should take with him 
several dozens of wine, some books, two looking- 
glasses, various trinkets, and a large piece of blue 
broad cloth. I took half the quantity of Captain 
Maxwell's presents. Smaller donations were 
also mad 1 up for each of the chiefs. Thus pre- 
pared, we *et out at one o'clock in the Ambassa- 
dor's barge, with a large union jack flying ; and 
the wind being fair, soon reached the harbour. 
As we rowed past the shore, the people were seen 
running along the different roads leading into the 
town, so that by the time we reached the entrance, 
the crowd on both sides was immense, and the 
sight as striking and animated as can well be con- 
ceived. 

On our entering the harbour, four or five of the 
chiefs came down to a point of land, and made 
signs by w T aving their hands that we must row past 
the end of a pier or mole, forming the inner har- 
bour. By the time we had performed this circuit, 
the chiefs were ready to receive us at the landing- 
place. They gave us their hands to help us from 
the boats, and then conducted us along the shore, 
Ookooma taking Capt. Maxwell's hand, the chief 
called Shayoon giving me his, and Jeema taking 
charge of Mr. Clifford. The other natives, ac- 
cording to their rank, conducted Dr. M'Leod, sur- 
geon of the Alceste, Mr. John Maxwell, the com- 



XOO-CHOO. 



171 



lnodore ; s son, and another Midshipman, Mr. 
Browne, selected to accompany us on account of 
his proficiency as a draughtsman. They held our 
hands nearly as high as the shoulder, and we moved 
along pretty much in the fashion of a minuet, with 
a sort of measured step, which made it still more 
ludicrous. In this manner they carried us through 
a lane opened for us among silent, gazing crowds 
of people. The children were, as usual, placed in 
front, three or four deep, all shining in their best 
dresses, and looking as happy as possible. The 
next two or three ranks crouched down, so as just 
to look over the heads of the children, and in or- 
der to allow those behind to see us in passing. 
By these arrangements many more could obtain a 
good sight of the strangers, than if they had been 
crowded indiscriminately together. We were thus 
paraded slowly along for about a hundred and fifty 
yards, till we reached the gate of a handsome 
wooden temple, where we were met by the princi- 
pal chief, our guest of the preceding day, who 
stood just outside of the threshold on a small square 
pavement of polished stones. Ookooina, who 
had brought Captain Maxwell thus far, now re- 
linquished his office to the old chief, who gave his 
hand, and showed the way to a small flight of 
steps leading to the temple, two sides of which 
were completely thrown open, and the whole skirt- 
ed by deep verandahs, precautions which rendered 
the interior shady and cool. The apartment was 
large, and neatly furnished with gaudy paintings 
hung round the walls, richly carved wooden corni- 
ces and pillars, and every thing shining with the 
brilliant varnish in which the Chinese excel all 
other nations. In the centre stood a large table. 



Loo-onoo. 



finely japanned, and two ornamental high-backed 
chairs, one on each side of the chief's seat for 
Captain Maxwell and me ; benches being placed 
at the sides of the table for the other gentlemen. 

The chief, as soon as the party were all seated, 
opened the conversation by expressing how much 
gratified he had been by the reception he had met 
with the day before, and how glad he was to see us 
at his table. He then asked our ages, begged to 
know which of us were married, which single, and 
expressed himself greatly pleased with the account 
of Captain Maxwell's family, which happened to 
correspond exactly as to numbers and age with 
his own. But he could scarcely be made to be- 
lieve that young Maxwell, a strapping youth of 
six feet, was not more than sixteen years of age ; 
insisting that he must be at least six-and-twenty. 
The same mistake was often made by the natives, 
who judged of the ages of our young men by their 
height alone. After some time spent in this easy 
kind of friendly chit-chat, a wine which they called 
sackee was handed round in very diminutive cups, 
filled to the brim by ene of the chiefs, out of a 
small metal pot, in which this beverage was kept 
constantly warm. The chief and his companions, 
after we had drank, followed our example, and 
took off their cups fairly ; and during the whole 
feast the sackee pot never left the table, being 
considered a proper accompaniment to all the 
strange messes which were brought in one at a 
time, and handed round by the attendants. When 
the first dish was placed on the table, a pair of 
chopsticks was given to each person present, and 
these were not changed during the feast. 

Chopsticks, it is possibly not generally known, 



ioo-enoo. 



173 



&re two polished pieces of ivory or of some hard 
wood, about a foot in length, and as thick as an 
ordinary quill. They are used instead of knives 
and forks in China, and all the countries in that 
quarter of the world. They are both held in the 
right hand, one being fixed and the other movea- 
ble ; so that the meat is caught up, as it were, by 
a pair of pincers. The middle of that chopstick 
which is fixed, rests on the tip of the third finger 
and its top in the hollow space between the thumb 
and the knuckle of the fore-finger ; the moveable 
one is grasped by the fore and middle fingers and 
thumb. Until the manner of using these imple- 
ments is learned, they are perfectly useless ; and 
the chief observing some of us make no advances 
in acquiring the requisite knowledge, ordered sharp- 
pointed sticks to be given to us ? that we might 
fork up our meat. As this would not do for rice, 
however, we resumed the chopsticks, but could 
make little progress, till we observed how the na- 
tives eat it, and even then our imitation was not 
very successful. They held the bowl in which it 
was contained close to their mouths as if going to 
drink, and then by means of the implements descri- 
bed, tumbled or rather stuffed in the rice till their 
mouths were quite full, sometimes also accelera- 
ting its farther progress by the agency of the chop- 
sticks, in a very ludicrous manner. 

The next dish, consisting of slices of fish fried 
in butter, we found excellent ; after this came 
smoked pork sliced, and then pig's liver cut into 
small square pieces and boiled. Then tea was 
handed round, which was quite new, and not very 
good in its way, resembling, as our facetious doctor 
observed, more an infusion of hay than anything 
15* 



174 



LOO-CHOO. 



else. The short intervals between the numerous 
courses, were filled up with smoking, our pipes 
being filled and lighted by an attendant, whose sole 
business it was to run about with a small bag in 
his hand, and watch when any one required tobac- 
co, which was not unfrequently, as the pipes were 
so diminutive that some of the gentlemen of our 
party found no difficulty in smoking nine of them 
during the feast. The next dish was the oddest 
thing we had yet seen in the way of eatables, its 
very appearance disgusting most of the party ; it 
consisted of coarse, very black sugar, wrapped up 
in unbaked dough, powdered over with rice flour, 
dyed of a yellow colour. This dish was certainly 
very unpalatable, but most of the others were so 
good, that we made a hearty dinner long before 
the feast was over. The succession of dishes, how- 
ever, continued without intermission, till our good- 
humoured host seeing we no longer eat anything, 
ordered them all away, and then, suiting the action 
to the word, recommended the sackee by pledging 
us over and over again. 

By carrying this good example a little too far, 
the old gentleman's eyes at length began to glisten, 
the remaining crust of formality fell off, and obser- 
ving that the room was hot, he requested us to take 
our hats off, as, till now, according to Loo-Choo 
custom, we had kept them on. The chief, who by 
this time was quite in a merry mood, seized Dr. 
31-Leod's cocked hat and fixed it on his own head, 
while the Doctor, who was never slow to profit by 
a good hint, did the same with the chiefs hatchee- 
matchee, or band turban. The oddity of this trans- 
fer fairly overcame the gravity of all present ; and 
excited the rapturous mirth of the chiefs sons, two 



XGO-GHOO. 



iine little boys, in gaudy dresses and high top knots 
of hair, who stood one on each side of his chair 
during all the entertainment. 

Our presents were now brought in by our own 
people and laid before the chief. He rose and saw 
them all properly arranged, and then turning to us, 
acknowledged his satisfaction, observing at the 
same time that as we had sent him a great deal too 
much, and already done him far more honour than 
he was entitled to, he could not possibly think of 
accepting the whole present, but must insist upon 
our taking back the greater part. This speech we 
considered a mere matter of form, and only la- 
mented our inability to make a more suitable return 
for his kindness. After one or two civil observa- 
tions of this kind had been bandied about, the chief 
sat down and said no more. The others, for each 
of whom we had brought some things, were much 
less scrupulous, and ran about showing their pre- 
sents to their friends among the crowd, holding 
up what they had received with an air of triumph. 

The apartment in which we were entertained 
was large and airy. At the commencement of 
the feast it was open on two sides only ; but after- 
wards, when it became heated by the crowd, the 
partitions on the other two sides also were re- 
moved, being so contrived as to slide in grooves, 
in such a manner that the room might be enlarged 
or diminished at pleasure. Four apartments might 
thus be thrown into one, or rendered entirely sepa- 
rate from each other, a contrivance well adapted to 
so fine a climate. 

When the partition behind us was removed, .se- 
veral strange-looking figures made their appear- 
ance, who we found were called Bodzes, or priest?.. 



176 



LOO-CHOO. 



—exactly the Bonzes of China. Their heads and 
chins were closely shaven, their feet left bare, and 
their dress quite different from that worn by the 
rest of the people. Their robe was shorter, much 
less full, and without any belt round the waist, be- 
ing merely tightened a little by a drawing string 
tied at the side. Over their shoulders hung an 
embroidered band or belt, shaped like a drummer's 
strap. The colour of their dress in some instances 
was black, in others yellow, and in some of deep 
purple. A timorous subdued cast of countenance 
belonged to all these unhappy-looking men. They 
never laughed along with the rest of their country- 
men, and at most a languid smile stole to their hps, 
augmenting rather than diminishing the ghastly 
expression characteristic of all their order at Loo- 
Choo. They appeared to be lower in stature than 
the other natives ; all of them had an unhealthy 
look, and stooped, more or less ; and in manners 
and appearance, they were strongly distinguished 
from the rest of the inhabitants. Along with these 
Bodzes we took notice of several boys, who, from 
the resemblance, we supposed at first must be their 
children ; but this was a mistake produced by the 
similarity in dress of these young priests, for the 
Bodzes, we afterwards learned, are strictly confined 
to a life of celibacy. From the circumstance of 
our being in a pagoda or temple, as well as our 
general habits and associations, we naturally felt 
disposed^to treat the guardians of the spot with 
respect, and we rose and bowed to them. This 
attention, however, was looked upon as superflu- 
ous by the chiefs, who unceremoniously thrust the 
poor Bodzes on one side, and entreated us to take 
no farther notice of them. It is to be inferred, 



LOO-CHOO. 



therefore, that the priesthood in Loo-Choo, instead 
of being, as in Europe, the class most respected, 
is considered one of the lowest, while its members 
are much neglected by all the other ranks. As 
far as we had an opportunity of observing, the same 
thing takes place in China — the religion, such as it 
is, of both countries being alike. 

During the time we were at table, the crowd, 
whom the guards in vain attempted to keep beyond 
the gate, pressed into the verandahs, and perched 
themselves upon the walls and house-tops in the 
vicinity wherever there was the least chance of 
getting a peep of their strange-looking visters. 
The satisfaction in this case was mutual, for we 
were fully as anxious to make the most of this op- 
portunity of looking about us, as the natives could 
possibly be ; especially as we knew not if ever we 
should be allowed to land again. After sitting for 
about two hours, we rose from the table, and were 
escorted to the boats in the same order as before. 
An attempt had been made during the feast, at 
the moment when the whole party were in the 
greatest good humour, to prevail upon the natives 
to sanction our taking a walk into the town. But 
the bare mention of such a thing sobered them all 
instantaneously, and the subject was dropped for 
the present. The sailors had meanwhile been kept 
strictly in the boats for fear of their giving offence ; 
but they had not been neglected by the chief, who 
sent them a feast as ample as ours had been, not 
omitting the hot sackee, to which the Johnies had 
done great justice, as a large pile of empty pots 
sufficiently testified. 

We looked anxiously to the right and left as we 
passed through the crowd near the temple, in hopes 



ITS 



LOO-CHOO. 



of seeing some of the women, but in this expecta- 
tion we were still disappointed. At a considerable 
distance, indeed, on the opposite side of the har- 
bour, we saw a single group of females, several of 
whom stole along the outer face of the raised cause- 
way to obtain a better view of the boats as they 
passed. Six or eight young girls had also contrived 
to conceal themselves from the rest of the natives 
behind some rocks near the extreme point of the 
land. They reached this spot just as we rowed 
past the pier-head, but were quite frightened at 
their own temerity when they found themselves 
actually so near us, and immediately drew back, 
like startled deer, behind the rocks, quite out of our 
sight. We fancied we could discover a good deal 
of beauty in some of their faces, and that their 
figures also were elegant : but as we had not seen 
the face of a fair lady for nearly half a year before, 
our judgment in this case is not perhaps to be de- 
pended upon implicitly. 

Ookooma and his associates put off to accompa- 
ny us in one of their own boats, but by this time 
the breeze had freshened so much, accompanied by 
a disagreeable bubble of a sea, that their little 
boat co;Jd make no headway, and was obliged to 
turn back. Jeeroo then begged to be taken into the 
barge, and went on board along with us, probably 
to make sure of there being no stray sheep from 
our party. 

What was to follow after this visit remained 
quite uncertain, though it was clear to us that we 
had made mighty little progress of late in gaining 
the confidence of the inhabitants, whilst it was no 
less obvious that fresh obstacles were hourly rising 
against our landing. In the mean time, as the 



xoo-cHoa. 



179 



Loo-Chooans were kind enough to supply us libe- 
rally with all kinds of stock, we had no great 
reason to complain, though our patience was sore- 
ly tried. 

On the evening of the 23d and morning of the , 
24th of September, it blew a hard gale of wind, 
beginning at north-north-east, and shifting to north- 
west. Our situation in so violent a storm would 
have been critical indeed, had it not been for the 
reefs beyond us, which, by breaking the violence 
of the waves, enabled us to ride in perfect security. 
We could see, however, that it blew much more 
severely in the open sea. 

Early on the 25th of September, our friend 
Jeeroo came with a large supply of vegetables and 
fruit, and afterwards went on board the Alceste to 
join Ookooma and Jeema. They had preceded 
him with a present from the chief, by whose desire 
they made a number of inquiries, and repeatedly 
expressed, in his name, great surprise and satis- 
faction at our having been able to ride out so 
severe a gale. They also apologized for not visit- 
ing us the day before, an omission which required 
little excuse, as the gale rendered all intercourse 
impossible. We took occasion, in the course of 
the interview, to represent to the chiefs that our 
limbs were getting quite stiff for want of exercise, 
and that it was becoming a matter of necessity for 
us to land on account of our health, worn out by 
long confinement on board ship. This appeal to 
their humanity produced the usual effect of setting 
the chiefs to puzzle among themselves how to 
frame an evasive answer. They accordingly de- 
bated the matter for some time, and then said, in 
their old way. that a final answer would be given 



180 



L00-CH0Q. 



to-morrow. It appeared they had quite forgotten 
their promise to send a pilot, for the Lyra, which it 
had been agreed was to go in search of the harbour 
to the northward ; they probably wished that we 
also should forget it, since they eagerly changed 
the subject whenever it was spoken of, and even 
affected total ignorance of our meaning. The 
government probably thought it best, upon recon- 
sidering the matter, to keep us* where we were, 
and to discourage any farther investigation of their 
island. Whatever they thought on this particular 
point, it was pretty clear they were sadly perplexed 
by our presence. Our force, had we chosen to put 
it forth, was beyond doubt sufficient to have over- 
powered the whole island ; — and although the 
natives already possessed abundant evidence of 
Captain Maxwell's friendly and patient disposition, 
they could never be quite sure how long this for- 
bearance would last. 

The chief Jeeroo, after this day's adventures, 
became quite familiar and unreserved with us. He 
was a laughing, good-humoured, rather fat man, 
about thirty ; shook every one cordially by the hand 
whenever he came on board, and engaged in all 
our amusements with much cheerfulness. He was 
at times also very useful, as his anxiety to learn 
English made him more communicative of his own 
language than the rest ; and as he was fond of a 
glass of wine, there was never much difficulty in 
fixing him at table, upon which occasions he con- 
tributed cheerfully and largely to Mr. Clifford's 
vocabulary. Some of our words the Loo-Chooans 
could never learn to pronounce. The letter Z, pre- 
ceded by c, appeared the most difficult : they call- 
ed Clifford Criffar, and this degree of proficiency 



was not attained without many efforts. Not one of 
the natives was ever able to make anything of the 
word child ; the nearest approaches were shoidak^ 
choiah, and chyad. 

On the 26th of September, no boats came near 
us, for what reason we could never discover. There 
were also fewer guards than usual along the beach., 
but Captain Maxwell, true to his plan, took no 
advantage of the circumstance, and the day passed 
without any intercourse. _ 

On the 27th, as we were still prevented from 
going on shore, we amused ourselves by examining 
one of the reefs which forms the north side of the 
anchorage of Napakiang. We found it to consist 
of a field of coral, about half a mile square, dry at 
low water, with a furious surf breaking on its outer 
edge, which lay exposed to the waves from the 
north. The surface of this rock was everywhere 
indented by numberless small holes, which being 
left full of water as the tide retired, were tenanted 
by beautiful little fish, of a vivid blue colour, such 
as I do not remember to have seen in any part of 
the world, except at Trincomalee in the Island of 
Ceylon. The coral was exceedingly hard, and 
though at many places it rose up in sharp points, 
it required a hammer of some weight to break off 
any considerable specimen. This extent of level 
space suggested the idea of measuring a base line 
for the purpose of surveying the anchorage, an 
occupation which, in the absence of all active ope- 
rations, promised not only to be useful, but inte- 
resting. While deliberating on this matter, and 
settling where the line was to run, we had a prac- 
tical proof of the inconvenience to which we w T ere 



16 



182 



XOOCHGO. 



likely to be exposed during the survey, for the tide 
rose and fairly drove us into our boats. 

Early in the morning, our worthy friend Jeeroo 
sent us off some fresh rock cod, and one or two 
blue fish, and soon followed his present, very happy 
to find his attention so well bestowed. Advantage 
was taken of this casual visit to send a message to 
the chiefs in attendance, to say, that as both ships 
stood in need of fresh water, the boats must be 
sent ashore with casks to fill and bring off a supply. 
Within two hours after this message had been de- 
livered, and just as our own boats were about to 
proceed, about thirty canoes came paddling along- 
side, each loaded with a large tub of water. This 
plea of wanting water was partly real, and partly 
intended as an excuse for landing. But the na- 
tives contrived in their usual dexterous way to 
counteract every plan having the shore for its ob- 
ject. W # , 

An elderly gentleman, but not a chief, visited 
the Lyra to-day, accompanied by his secretary ; 
and his appearance and manners being very much 
in his favour, we paid him particular attention. As 
he wished to be allowed to go over the ship at his 
leisure alone, and without interruption, orders were 
given to let him have free access to every corner, 
cabins and storerooms not excepted. Armed with 
this authority, he examined every thing on board 
with more minute attention than any body had 
done before him. His secretary, who was equal- 
ly inquisitive and observant, accompanied him, 
and took copious notes at his dictation. They 
were employed for about six hours during the first 
day in examining the upper deck alone ; making a 
rule never to quit any thing until its use was tho- 



XOO-CHOO. 



183 



roughly understood and recorded. My cabin oc- 
cupied them an hour or two longer, where they 
examined the books and furniture, and occasionally 
engaged in conversation with Mr. Clifford, for 
whose vocabulary they not only supplied a number 
of new words, but what was of great importance, 
corrected others which had been written down er- 
roneously at the commencement of the undertaking. 
This most interesting person would not accept any 
thing which seemed valuable, but most gratefully 
took small samples of rope, canvass, cloth, and such 
other articles as w T ere characteristic of our equip- 
ment. Our industrious old friend continued his 
examination of the brig during the next two days ; 
and so curious and particular were his inquiries 
that it was near the close of the third day before 
he had completed his survey. The account was 
taken in the Chinese character, and I have often 
lamented since that I did not try to obtain a copy, 
which might have been translated at Canton, and 
could not have been otherwise than a curious docu- 
ment. Like many other circumstances, however, 
it was allowed to slip past till too late, for after 
many inquiries I could never see or hear of this 
man again. 

The sailors were particularly pleased with this 
old man's reverend appearance, and very readily 
assisted him in his inquiries. It was indeed ex- 
tremely interesting to observe how early the gen- 
tle manners and amiable disposition of all classes 
of society at Loo-Choo won the hearty good mil 
even of our rough seamen. From the very first 
hour of our visit, by a sort of universal and tacit 
understanding, which rendered orders on the sub- 
ject unnecessary, the natives were treated by every 



284 



L00-CH00. 



one, not only with kindness, but what wa3 more 
remarkable, with entire confidence. No watch 
was ever kept over them ; they were never ex- 
cluded from any part of the ships ; yet not only 
was nothing ever stolen, but when anything was 
lost, or happened to be mislaid, nobody ever sus- 
pected for an instant that it could have been taken 
by them. 

On the 28th of September, at 'sun rise, we set 
out on our expedition to Reef Island, the name 
given to the spot on which our destruction had so 
nearly been accomplished a fortnight before. This 
dangerous bed of coral we found to lie about six 
miles west from the anchorage, and we reached it 
in about an hour, but as it was then low tide, the 
water was left quite shallow for a considerable way 
from the dry beach, and our large boat could not 
therefore get near enough. In this dilemma we 
used no ceremony in taking possession of a canoe 
lying at anchor near us ; and by making several 
trips in it, all the party were safely landed. During 
the time of our disembarkation, eight or ten of the 
inhabitants, crowded together near a hut, stood 
looking apprehensively towards us until we had all 
reached the shore, and then ran away, leaving their 
tobacco-pipes, pouches, and various other things 
on the ground near their dwelling, in which we 
found nothing but a pot of sweet potatoes on the 
lire, and several jars of water. Having in vain 
tried to allay the apprehensions of the natives by 
waving to them, to induce them to approach, we 
sat down to breakfast, but had hardly begun before 
two of the people, an old man and a boy, came 
trembling up to the door of our tent, and prostrated 
themselves before us. They were so terrified that 



L0O-CHOO. 



185 



they answered incoherently to all our inquiries, 
"Ooal ooa!" After a time we succeeding in 
raising the old man on his knees, but until a glass 
of rum, which was poured down his throat, had 
given him courage, there was no forcing him out 
of this posture, and he at last consented to stand 
on his legs. Having thus gained a little confi- 
dence, he ventured to make signs explaining that 
we had piratically taken away his canoe. We had 
totally forgotten the circumstance, and could not 
imagine the cause of the poor fellow's despair ; 
but Captain Maxwell laughed and ordered his 
cockswain to restore the boat immediately, upon 
which the poor native guessing what was said, in 
the joy of his heart was proceeding to prostrate 
himself once more, when he was stopped midway 
by the sight of some buttons and a piece of meat 
held out to him. He received these things in both 
hands, and touching his forehead respectfully with 
the present, made three low salams, and rejoined 
his companions. On rising from breakfast we 
discovered near the tent about a dozen of the na- 
tives, who in most respects resembled our friends 
at Napakiang, though not one of them were nearly 
so well dressed. Their hair, instead of being 
formed into a handsome top-knot, was allowed to 
fly loose, a practice we never saw in the great 
island. 

During the morning the different members of our 
party amused themselves in various ways. Some 
took their guns and went in search of curlews and 
sea-snipes ; others set out to explore the reefs ; 
and two or three remained near the tent to adjust 
the instruments necessary for taking observations 
of the sun at noon. The sportsmen were the most 
16* 



186 



LOO-CHG0. 



fortunate, and came to the rendezvous loaded with 
wild fowl for dinner. The others having found all 
things favourable for inspecting the reef, had stored 
their bottles and boxes with curious and beautiful 
specimens of zoophytes and corals. The remain- 
ing party alone were unsuccessful, as a little cloud 
obscured the sun just at the moment of its passing 
the meridian. Indeed there are perhaps no persons 
to whom the fluctuations in the aspect of the sky 
bring such mortifying disappointments as the prac- 
tical astronomer. 

The examination of a coral reef during the dif- 
ferent stages of one tide is particularly interesting. 
When the sea has left it for some time it becomes 
dry, and appears to be a compact rock, exceeding- 
ly hard and ragged ; but no sooner does the tide 
rise again and the waves begin to wash over it, 
than millions of coral worms protrude themselves 
from holes on the surface which were before quite 
invisible. These animals are of a great variety of 
shapes and sizes, and in such prodigious numbers, 
that in a short time the whole surface of the rock 
appears to be alive and in motion. The most 
common of the worms at Loo-Choo was in the 
form of a star, with arms from four to six inches 
long, which it moved about with a rapid motion in 
all directions, probably in search of food. Others 
were so sluggish that they were often mistaken for 
pieces of the rock ; these were generally of a dark 
colour, and from four to five inches long and two 
or three round. When the rock was broken from 
a spot near the level of high water, it was found to 
be a hard solid stone, but if any part of it were de- 
tached at a level to which the tide reached every 
day, it was discovered to be full of worms of all dif- 



187 



ferent lengths and colours, some being as fine a$ 
a thread and several feet long, generally of a very 
bright yellow, and sometimes of a blue colour ; 
while others resembled snails, and some were not 
unlike lobsters or prawns in shape, but soft, and 
not above two inches long. 

The growth of coral ceases when the worm 
which creates it is no longer exposed to the wash- 
ing of the tide. Thus a reef rises in the form of 
a gigantic cauliflower, till its top has gained the 
level of the highest tides, above which the worm 
has no power to carry its operations, and the reef, 
consequently, no longer extends itself upwards. 
The surrounding parts, however, advance in suc- 
cession till they reach the surface, where they also 
must stop. Thus, as the level of the highest tide 
is the eventual limit to every part of the reef, a ho- 
rizontal field comes to be formed coincident with 
that plane, and perpendicular on all sides. The 
reef, however, continually increases, and being 
prevented from going higher, must extend itself 
laterally in all directions ; and this growth being 
probably as rapid at the upper edge as it is lower 
down, the steepness of the face of the reef is pre- 
served ; and it is this circumstance which renders 
this species of rocks so dangerous in navigation. 
In the first place, they are seldom seen above the 
water ; and in the next, their sides are so abrupt 
that a ship's bows may strike against the rock be- 
fore any change of soundings, indicates the ap- 
proach of danger. 

On the southern side, this island is tolerably 
clear of rocks, but on the north it is everywhere 
guarded by a most formidable barrier of pointed 
ledges surrounding a flat area extending upwards 



188 



loo-ghoo. 



of a mile from the shore, the surface just lipping, 
as seamen term it, with the water's edge. The 
sun was shining brightly on the beautiful coral, and 
the space seemed like a vast flower-garden spread 
beneath the water by some treacherous sea-nymph, 
to allure the passing mariner ; and even now when 
the danger was past, it was impossible to view 
these insidious enemies to navigation, without 
shuddering to think how narrow 'our escape had 
been, and that a few yards more of lee-way would 
have put a speedy end to our voyage. 

On this island there was but one hut, the most 
wretched dwelling for human beings we had yet 
fallen in with. The body of the house, for no walls 
were visible, was sunk under the ground, so that 
only the roof appeared when viewed from without ; 
the inside was fifteen feet long by six wide ; the 
walls built of stones were only two feet high, and 
the roof in the middle about six or seven, formed 
of a ridge-pole supported in the centre by a forked 
stick ; the rafters of rough branches of drift-wood 
were covered with reeds, and thatched over with 
the leaf of the wild pine-apple, a stunted shrub 
growing on most coral islands. The fire was 
placed at one end on a raised part of the mud floor, 
directly over which a hole had been broken through 
the roof for the exit of the smoke ; the other 
end appeared to afford a most comfortless sleeping 
place. It was conjectured at first that this wretch- 
ed hovel could only be meant for the temporary 
residence of the fishermen, whose nets we saw 
lying about ; but the number of water-jars and cook- 
ing utensils gave it the appearance of a more per- 
manent habitation. 

Sunday the 29th of September is memorable in 



LGO-CHGO. 



189 



our voyage, on account of its being the first day on 
which we touched the soil of Loo-Choo by consent 
of the natives. On the morning before, when we 
were absent at Reef Island, the chiefs had come on 
board to say we might land, on condition that our 
walk was confined to a particular part of the beach, 
and that we neither entered the town, nor went a 
single step into the country. These were disagree*- 
able limitations, but we were too well pleased to 
have the ice fairly broken to make any complaint. 

At one o'clock, accordingly, several of our 
friends came on board in full dress, but in a great 
fidget, to accompany us to the shore. We landed 
amidst an immense concourse of people, who cover- 
ed the sea banks for half a mile on each side. Th£ 
chiefs insisted upon handing us along, and in their 
desire to be exceedingly civil, held us most incom- 
modiously by the arms, as if afraid we should break 
loose and ravage the country. The day was exces- 
sively hot, and the sand deep, so that we found this 
cumbersome help particularly troublesome, and 
petitioned for leave to walk alone. To this rea- 
sonable request they reluctantly consented ; and 
we proceeded broiling along the beach for about a 
quarter of a mile from the spot where we first 
landed. Beginning to get tired of a walk which 
resembled more a march across the desert, than an 
excursion into a beautiful island of the eastern 
seas, we stopped and expressed some surprise at 
the uncivil nature of our reception, telling our 
guides, or rather guards, how very disagreeable it 
was to be exposed to the sun's rays at such an 
hour, in such a place. But our remonstrances pro= 
duced no great effect, for, after we had repeatedly 
objected to this treatment, they merely changed the 



190 



LOOCHOO. 



scene to a cave in the rock, where they spread a 
mat for us on the half-wet sand, and begged to 
know if we should like to drink tea in this shady 
spot, seeing that we disliked the sun so much. This 
was carrying the joke rather too far even for our 
Commodore's good nature ; and indeed the place 
was so dirty and incommodious in every respect, 
that nothing but their unceasing dread of our going 
into the town, or the interior of the island, could 
have induced the chiefs, in general so kind and 
well-bred, to entertain us so scurvily. Captain 
Maxwell, secretly much amused, but apparently 
out of humour, told them our object in landing was 
not to sit down on a dirty exposed beach to drink 
tea, but to walk about under the shade of trees on 
the line turf he saw everywhere, in order, by genial 
country exercise, to recover his health, impaired 
by a long stay on board ship. 

They tried all their eloquence to persuade us, 
that our walk, thus limited, was, or ought to be, 
particularly pleasant ; till at length, Captain Max- 
well affecting to lose all patience, gave them to 
understand that his wish was to go to the top of 
the hills, to stroll freely about wherever he pleased ; 
but as he did not mean, during his stay at the 
island, to advance a single step beyond what was 
fully approved of by the inhabitants themselves, he 
would return instantly to his ship, if they persisted 
any longer in restricting him to the beach. A 
long and tiresome consultation w T as held upon this 
declaration, on the open shore, with the sun bla- 
zing upon us, during which, frequent reference was 
made to several elderly strangers, whose opinions 
appeared to have great weight. At last they 
agreed, but evidently with the greStest reluctance, 



mm 



L00-CH00. 



191 



to our going to the top of the hill, first using the 
uneivil precaution, before we set out, to send for- 
ward a couple of runners, to warn off any women 
who might chance to be passing in that direction* 
About half way up the road, which conducted us 
along a steep bank, the top of which was covered 
with wood, we came to a neatly built well, the 
fountain-head of a clear spring, which gushed im- 
petuously out of the rock, and flowed to the right 
and left along two stone water courses, from which 
it was drawn off to water the fields below. Near 
this spot were discovered three or four rudely car- 
ved stones, each about a foot long, and four inches 
wide, with sweet-scented slow matches burning on 
the top of them, and a small quantity of rice piled 
upon each. Mr. Clifford, whose knowledge of 
the language was by this time considerable, made 
out that these were meant as religious offerings, 
the precise nature of which he could not discover, 
though he conjectured, from some expressions 
used by the natives, that they were propitiatory of 
the guardian deity of the fountain. The side of 
this hill was cut into horizontal terraces, irregular 
in width, cultivated with much care, and glowing 
with verdure caused by this copious irrigation. 
When our procession reached the brow of the high 
ground overlooking the anchorage, the chiefs halt- 
ed, and seemed, by their imploring looks, to en- 
treat us to stop. But as we were within only a 
few yards of the summit, where we saw a shady 
grove, we begged them to proceed a little farther, 
to which, after another long-winded council- of 
war, for nothing was ever done without its ample 
share of deliberation, they consented. By gaining 
this eminence, we commanded the view of an ex- 



192 



L0O-CHO0. 



tensive valley to the north, exceeding in beauty 
anything we had before seen. On the side of the 
high land fronting us in the north-east we had a 
good view of the large building spoken of above, 
generally suspected to be the King's palace. Of 
course our inquiries were immediately directed to 
this object, but every question was answered in so 
evasive a manner, and with such apparent distress, 
that we avoided farther allusion >either to the pa- 
lace or its royal inmate, of whom it was clear they 
wished us to remain in ignorance. 

We continued sitting on the grass under the 
trees of this delightful cool grove for about an 
hour, drinking tea and smoking pipes in company 
with all the chiefs, and four or five of the old men 
mentioned before. The fresh air of the mountains, 
to which we had been so long strangers, together 
with the exhilarating walk, and the novelty of the 
whole scene, put us into the highest spirits. Ma- 
ny methods were tried to amuse the natives, and 
relieve them from the deep anxiety which had set- 
tled on their brows from the instant that our course 
had deviated beyond high-water mark, the proper 
limit, in their opinion, to all foreign intercourse. 
We surprised them not a little by lighting their 
pipes with a burning glass ; but one old gentle- 
man suspecting some trick, would not join in the 
surprise manifested by all the others, and boldly 
held out his hand that it might be exposed to the 
Jbcus. He was speedily undeceived, and roared 
out his recantation, to the great amusement of the 
circle, who taunted him for his incredulity for some 
time. The magnifying power of the lens was 
next exhibited ; but it was curious to observe that 
effect was by no means the same in every in- 



LOO-CIIOO. 



193 



stance : a sudden start, accompanied by an excla- 
mation of pleasure and surprise, was the most 
usual consequence of viewing objects through it : 
some of the natives laughed immoderately at every 
experiment which exhibited the magnifying power, 
while others became thoughtful ; and some looked 
exceedingly grave and puzzled for a long time after. 
At the moment when their admiration of the glass 
was considered at the highest point, it was re- 
stored to its case, and presented to our friend Jee- 
roo. This was, I believe, the first instance in 
which any of the chiefs had been prevailed upon 
to accept a present, excepting on the day of our 
official visit on the 23d. 

A man on horseback rode past us while sitting 
on the top of the hill. This was the only person 
we had seen mounted, and the circumstance was 
taken immediate advantage of to suggest to our 
good friends, that nothing would so materially 
contribute to the re-establishment of our health as 
this description of exercise. This was said in 
sober earnest, but they insisted upon treating our 
remark as a mere joke, dreading, no doubt, that 
if once we got fairly on horseback there would be 
no restraining our flights. 

After sitting for some time we expressed a wish, 
now that we had rested ourselves, to extend our 
walk a mile or two up the country, or, at all 
events, to vary the road back by turning to the left 
after reaching the brow of the hill, and so walking 
along the edge of the clifT to another path, which 
would lead us down to the boats quite as soon as 
the way by which we had ascended. The chiefs 
observed, in reply to this proposal, that we should 
inevitably tumble down and break our necks should 
17 



194 



LOO-CHOO. 



we attempt such a thing, affecting, notwithstand- 
ing the gross absurdity of such an apprehension, 
to be really alarmed at our danger. We turned 
back, therefore, after having gone about two hun- 
dred yards along the top of the cliffs, without any 
adventure, excepting a short interview with a very 
aged decrepid man, upon whom we lighted by 
mere accident. He was seated in an open shed 
on the edge of the precipice, with his long white 
beard nearly covering his breast, and a sedate and 
contemplative air, which gave him that sort of as- 
pect which the imagination bestows on a hermit. 
He was probably an ascetic of some kind, for our 
appearance did not in the least discompose him, 
nor, until desired by Ookcoma, would he conde- 
scend to notice us at all. Even when spoken to, 
he merely bowed his head, very slightly, without 
looking up, and immediately resumed his abstract- 
ed air, as if quite alone and absorbed by other 
matters. 

As we drew near the landing-place, our com- 
panions, very much to our surprise, invited us to 
turn from the shore towards a large house, or 
temple, where preparations, they said, had been 
made to receive us. The road led us directly 
through a grove of Scoth fir-trees, rising out of a 
thick underwood of the tropical broad-leaved 
tribes ; an unlooked for, but not an unpleasing 
mixture of the rugged scenery of our northern 
hills, with the milder accompaniments of an east- 
ern landscape. After skirting along a high wall, 
we reached by means of a large gate a nicely kept 
garden, or pleasure-ground, along the centre of 
which ran a smooth gravel walk, between two low 
shaven hedges. Other walks crossed the grounds 



L00-CH00. 



195 



at right angles, all of them laid out in the same 
neat style. By following one of these paths we 
found our way to a grove of the banyan, or Indian 
%-tree, under which, and completely shaded by its 
branches, stood a temple, extremely like the Chi- 
nese Pagodas which we see in pictures. 

Here an entertainment had been provided of 
painted eggs, smoked pork, and various prepara- 
tions of fish, together with the usual desert of 
sweet-cakes, tea, pipes, and the never-failing 
sackee. There was no furniture in the room ex- 
cept split rattan mats, spread on the floor, although 
in fact it needed no covering, as it was varnished 
over, and looked as clean and bright as a polished 
mahogany table. When luncheon was over, we 
rose and proposed to take a turn round the gar- 
den ; but the natives, who dreaded nothing so 
much as this perpetual rambling propensity of 
ours, assured us we must be already tired with so 
unusually long a walk, and that it would be much 
better to sit still where we were and be contented. 
Mr. Clifford, in the mean time, who, from the pro- 
gress he made in their language, had become a 
great favourite, was invited to join a merry party 
in the verandah. Here they brought him flowers, 
fruits, and every thing they could think of, in or- 
der to learn from him their English names, and 
give in return those of Loo-Choo. 

On reaching the boats, Jeeroo and two of his 
friends seeming disposed to accompany us on board, 
were invited to do so : the poor fellow was so de- 
lighted that he untied a rudely-carved ivory orna- 
ment which hung from his tobacco-pouch, and 
gave it to me. I had previously given orders for 
dinner to be ready as soon as the boat was seen 



196 



LOO-CHOO. 



to quit the shore ; so that by the time we reached 
the ship it was actually on the table. I called to 
my servant to place two additional covers, and the 
order was so promptly obeyed, that before I could 
conduct my guests below every thing was prepared 
for their reception. As their offer of a visit was 
made only five minutes before, they would not be- 
lieve these arrangements were made for them, and 
naturally conceiving that some other guests were 
expected, refused for some time to occupy the 
seats placed for them. When the covers were 
removed from the dishes, they became silent, and 
looked to the right and left, as if to discover what 
was to be done next. On being helped to soup, 
they made no attempt to touch it till they saw us 
take spoons, in the management of which they 
showed wonderfully little awkwardness. The mys- 
teries of a knife and fork gave them more trouble : 
but as they set themselves seriously to work to ac- 
quire a knowledge of these singular instruments, in 
a short time they found no particular difficulty in 
helping themselves. 

The uniform propriety in the behaviour of the 
natives on such occasions is more worthy of re- 
mark, as it was in some degree different from our 
own under similar circumstances. For example, 
when we first tried to eat with chopsticks, there 
was often a giggling sort of embarrassment, in 
contempt, forsooth, of ourselves, for condescend- 
ing to employ an effort to acquire the use of things 
apparently so unimportant. Even their diminutive 
cups and strange dishes now and then excited 
mirth among some of our party, who, in true John 
Bull taste, had no conception that anything could 
possibly be good whi&h was not English. Our 



LOOCHOO. 



197 



Loo-Choo friends, on the contrary, never forgot 
the rules of decorum in this way ; a difference of 
behaviour which may perhaps have arisen from 
their looking upon us as their superiors ; but 
even admitting this, which travellers are apt enough 
to do, it affords but a lame excuse for this propen- 
sity to quiz whatever is strange in their eyes. 

On this occasion, Jeeroo and his two friends 
had evidently made up their minds to find every 
thing quite new, for all three made a slight invo- 
luntary exclamation when a cover was lifted up 
and snowed a dish of their own sweet potatoes. 
They tasted every thing at table, and used a great 
deal of salt, being much struck with its fineness 
and whiteness in comparison with their own, which 
was always in large dirty crystals. Towards the 
end of dinner, a sweet tart made its appearance, 
which our friends refused to taste, making some 
objection which we could not understand. At last 
one of them ventured to put a morsel in his mouth, 
an experiment which seemed to dissipate his fears, 
whatever they were, in a moment ; for he exclaim- 
ed, " Massa ! massa! good, good." It was made 
of Scotch marmadale, and Jeeroo, who had been 
the first to muster courage to make the trial, in 
recommending it to his friends, told them it was 
" injassa, amassa," bitter and sweet, a combina- 
tion probably unknown in Loo-Choo cookery. 
They made no difficulty about drinking wine, but 
were afraid, they said, that it would make them 
u weety." To relieve their fears on this head, we 
taught them our mode of mixing it with water, 
which was evidently new : and they relished it so 
much in this form, that they were in a fair way of 
running into the very excess apprehended^ for af- 
17* 



198 



LOO-CHGQ. 



ter a glas3 or two we heard no more of their fears. 
After sitting about an hour, our guests rose, and 
walked all over the ship ; but on our preparing to 
accompany them, they entreated us to keep our 
seats, and seemed anxious to be permitted to ram- 
ble about the decks alone. 

During this dinner, though it was the first these 
people had seen in the European style, they adopt- 
ed all our customs with so much readiness, — for 
instance, that of drinking with one another, — that 
we were frequently at a loss to determine whether 
they had just learned these customs, or the usages 
of the country were actually similar to our own. 
When it was nearly dark they requested to have 
their boat manned, and after pushing off stood up 
to take leave ; upon our begging them to remain 
and sing us a boat-song, all the party joined in a 
very pleasing little air, which had evidently some 
reference to the Lyra : but we could not catch 
any of the words, though we listened attentively, 
and were near enough to hear the sound of their 
paddles, and the notes of their song all the way to 
the shore. 

During the whole of the morning of the 30th of 
September, Mr. Clifford and I were engaged in the 
survey, accompanied by several midshipmen from 
both ships. We measured a base line of 1319 feet 
on the level surface of the reef, at some distance 
from the shore, a situation which afforded an ex- 
cellent place for such a purpose. But before all 
the necessary angles were observed, the tide rose 
and overflowed the rocks from end to end, so that 
we had enough to do to save our instruments from 
being wetted by the spray, and to get into the 
boats ourselves without a ducking. A few of the 



LGO-CHGO. 



199 



natives who rowed off to reconnoitre us, were lost 
in wonder at the appearance of the theodolite ; 
but they rather assisted than obstructed our opera- 
tions, volunteering to carry about the chain with 
great good-humour. 

From this time forward a free intercourse was 
established with the shore ; and as little doubt re- 
mained of our being able to gain permission in a 
day or two for landing the Alceste's stores, it be- 
came an object of consequence to ascertain, with- 
out farther delay, whether or not this anchorage 
was better than the harbour described by the chiefs 
as being only a few miles to the northward. 

The Lyra was accordingly ordered to get under 
weigh at daylight on the morning of the 1st of 
October, for the purpose of exploring the coast for 
ten or twelve leagues to the northward. We sail- 
ed out of the anchorage by a very narrow passage 
through the reefs, and in the course of the morning 
beat up to Sugar Loaf Island. W e did not land, 
but passed near enough to see that it was richly 
cultivated on the lower parts, while the houses 
were collected into picturesque villages, shaded 
as usual by large trees all round the base, and that 
the cultivation extended for a third of the way up 
the sides of the peak. As this was to be our far- 
thest point in the present survey, we tacked on 
reaching the Sugar Loaf, and coasted round the 
shores of a large quadrangular bay on the western 
side of the great island. The wind shifted gradu- 
ally as we sailed along, blowing directly off the 
shore at every place, by which means we were 
enabled to complete the circuit of the bay before 
dark ; after which we anchored in sixty-five fa- 
thoms water. Next morning we resumed our ex- 



200 



LOO-CHOO. 



amination of the coast, and the weather being fine, 
hoisted out a boat, and rowed close along the 
shore among the rocks ; while the Lyra kept her 
course at the distance of several miles. In this 
manner the whole shore was traced from Sugar 
Loaf Island to Napakiang, without any port being 
seen. We tried to land at several places, but were 
everywhere kept off by breakers 'Stretching along 
the coast at the distance of two or three hundred 
yards, which formed, to strangers at least, an im- 
penetrable barrier. The canoes of the natives, 
however, paddled away from us, and contrived to 
pass through the surf by passages among the reefs, 
which we could not venture to explore in our boat. 
We returned to the brig about two o'clock, and at 
three anchored in our former birth alongside of the 
Alceste, in Napakiang harbour. 

The departure of the Lyra had excited a great 
sensation. No sooner had she sailed than the 
chiefs came bustling off, all anxiety to inquire of 
Captain Maxwell where the littler ship was gone. 
He affected great mystery, and would not satisfy 
them otherwise than by saying, that as they had 
trifled with him so long, and so obstinately refused 
to let him land his stores, he must endeavour to 
find some more favourable place for refitting his 
ship. The effect was exactly what he wished, and 
had expected to produce The chiefs earnestly 
entreated him not to think of moving, offered him 
boats to land his stores, and said he should have 
warehouses on shore, or whatever he desired, 
while his ship was undergoing repair. Their 
anxiety rose to such a pitch, that they granted hirn 
permission to land with his officers whenever he 
pleased, and even to climb the hill without being 
guarded or handed along as formerly. 



L00-CH0O. 



201 



On the Lyra's anchoring, the chiefs came on 
board in great agitation to iearn what we had dis- 
covered ; but as we had actually nothing to relate, 
there was little difficulty in keeping our secret. 
They accompanied me, however, on board the Al- 
ceste when I went to make my report ; but Cap- 
tain Maxwell, having found the advantage he had 
already gained by keeping them in ignorance of his 
intentions, was not at all communicative. A far- 
ther offer was now made of allowing the sailors of 
both ships to land, for the purpose of washing their 
clothes, a favour which previously had always been 
positively refused. In short, they were in a mood 
to grant anything, on condition of our agreeing to 
remain at this part of the island ; yet they were 
too sincere to pretend that all this arose out of 
pure love and affection for their guests ; and, in- 
deed, it was not difficult to perceive they anticipa- 
ted more trouble in managing us anywhere else 
than here. Among the numberless arguments 
used to dissuade us from going to the other end 
of the island, they declared it to be inhabited by 
savages. But it slipped out also accidentally in 
conversation, that in the event of the ships actually 
proceeding to another part of the island, the six 
chiefs who had us in charge were under orders to 
accompany us ; so that motives of a personal na- 
ture may have quickened their public exertions to 
detain us. 

On the 3d of October, the crews of the Alceste and 
Lyra were allowed to go on shore to wash their 
clothes at the well, and by the sides of the water- 
courses before described. They amused themselves 
also by scampering, or, as they called it, skylark- 
ing, about the hills, a liberty which the poor fellows 



202 



LOO-CHOO. 



enjoyed exceedingly, for most of them had not 
been once over the ship's side since leaving Eng- 
land. Two of the sailors of this party who hap- 
pened to be singing at their work near the well, 
attracted a number of the natives round them, who 
expressed great pleasure in hearing their songs. 
At first, the audience consisted entirely of the pea- 
santry, who sat down on the grass and listened with 
the greatest attention and delight. In about half 
an hour, a person of rank, with a number of at- 
tendants, joined the group, and begged the men to 
sing several of their songs over again. 

Next day, the 4th of October, the survey from 
the reef was completed ; the only inconvenience 
experienced in this operation was the limited time 
which the tide allowed each day ; otherwise, the 
situation was well adapted for the purpose, from 
its commanding a view of all parts of the anchor- 
age. During the progress of the principal survey, 
several young gentlemen sent by Captain Maxwell, 
in conjunction with my own midshipmen, com- 
pleted a detailed survey of the reef itself. 

During the period that our excursions were 
limited to the sea-beach, we had frequent opportu- 
nities of seeing the Loo-Choo method of making 
salt, an account of which may perhaps be interest- 
ing. Near the sea, several large level fields are 
rolled or beat down till the surface becomes hard 
and smooth. Over this floor, a sandy black earth 
is cast by the hand, so as to form a layer about a 
quarter of an inch thick ; rakes and brooms being 
used to make it of a uniform thickness. During 
the heat of the day, men bring water in tubs from 
the sea, which they repeatedly sprinkle over the 
fields, by means of a short scoop. The rays of the 



LOO-CHOO. 



203 



sun in a short time evaporate the water, and leave 
the salt in the sand, which in the evening is scraped 
up and put into stone receptacles. When these 
are full of this salt sand, more water is poured 
upon it at the top, which having passed through, 
runs out a tolerably strong brine, and this is re- 
duced to salt by the ordinary process of evaporation 
in boilers. The cakes resulting from this operation 
are an inch and a half in thickness, but coarse and 
dirty. This method of making salt is practised on 
the southern coasts of China ; and I have seen it 
also in Java, in India, and more recently on the 
shores of Mexico. 

On the 5th of October, Captain Maxwell called 
for me at sunrise, on his way to the shore. The 
chiefs had not expected us to be stirring so early, 
and our only companion for some time after we 
landed was an old peasant, who, in spite of all we 
could do, now and then ran on before to give notice 
of our approach. Two other men joined us shortly 
afterwards, and continued with us during the walk, 
which at first lay along the beach, but afterwards 
struck directly into the country : some exception 
was taken to this change in the route by our com- 
panions, but they were not urgent, and we paid 
little attention to what was said. 

After walking about a mile, and passing through 
an extensive grove of young trees, we found our- 
selves suddenly close to a village, lying in the bot- 
tom of a highly-cultivated glen, the houses being 
almost entirely hid under the branches. The whole 
village being surrounded by a high close bamboo 
hedge, and each bouse built within a separate en- 
closure, it was almost invisible even at the dis- 
tance of a few yards. To some of the cottages 



LOO-CHOO. 



were attached neat arbours or sheds, formed of a 
light trellis-work of canes, covered over with a 
variety of creepers. The surrounding fields were 
sown with rice, and divided from one another by 
small mounds or embankments of earth, made to 
retain the water. Along the top of each bank ran 
a convenient foot-path ; little circumstances in the 
picture, which, added to the larger tropical features, 
gave this valley very much the air of a scene in 
India. A number of the villagers, accompanied 
by crowds of children, came out to meet us, but 
not a single woman could be seen among them. 
As these people made many objections to our en- 
tering the village, we passed on and continued our 
walk. 

The mode of dressing the ground at Loo-Choo 
is very neat, and resembles that of China, particu- 
larly in the process of manuring and irrigating. 
These particulars seem to be most sedulously at- 
tended to in places where the sugar cane is culti- 
vated. Tobacco, wheat, rice, Indian corn, millet, 
sweet potatoes, brinjals, and many other tropical 
vegetables grow in great perfection at Loo-Choo. 
Along the sides of the hills, and round the villages, 
the bamboo and rattan grow to a considerable size. 
But the pine was the most conspicuous tree we saw 
on the island, rising sometimes to a great height 
and size, as we inferred from seeing canes built 
with planks several feet broad ; those near the tem- 
ple at Napakiang, however, were not above forty 
feet high, and from three to four in girth. The 
banyan tree of India was seen at several places, 
the finest one completely overshadowing the small 
temple at Napakiang. But we could not discot&r 
whether it was held sacred here, as in India 



LOO-CHOO. 205 

It may be remarked, that on making such in- 
quiries in foreign countries, it is easy by putting 
leading questions, to make the natives say whatever 
you please, and thus any favourite hypothesis of the 
traveller is sure to find abundant support. But 
even in cases, where there is the most perfect 
honesty of intention in the traveller, it requires 
great caution on his part, to frame his queries in 
a manner that shall not prompt the answer. The 
questions put have almost always some reference 
to preconceived notions, and the reply, although 
it be not necessarily connected with these notions, 
is very apt to be estimated according to its coin- 
cidence or discordance with them, instead of be- 
ing weighed and judged of solely on its own merits. 
When to this inevitable tendency in travellers to 
deceive themselves, is superadded an imperfect 
knowledge of the language, and little leisure to 
repeat the inquiry, it is no great wonder that so 
much error has been put upon record, where not 
the least intention of deceiving existed in any 
quarter. 

The cattle we saw on this island were of a small 
black breed, and invariably used instead of horses 
for agricultural purposes. Hogs, goats, and poul- 
try, with rice, and a great variety of vegetables, 
formed the chief food of the inhabitants ; milk, we 
were told, being never used. We saw no geese, 
from which we infer that those left by Captain 
Broughton had not lived, and we never saw or 
heard of any sheep on the island. Their horses, 
though small and slender, were sufficiently strong 
for the natives. They had no carts or wheeled 
carriages of any kind, all loads being carried by 
horses ; and the roads, which were numerous, and 
18 



I 



206 



L00-CH00. 



kept in excellent order, measured generally from 
six to ten feet across. 

On turning to recross the valley, we were at- 
tracted by the appearance of a cottage, standing by 
itself, and so completely buried in foliage, as to be 
concealed from our view till within a few paces 
of the door. It was surrounded by a slight fence 
of upright rods, standing about an inch apart, with 
a line of creepers running along the top like a 
cornice, and hanging down on both sides. A wick- 
er gate admitted us, and we entered the house, 
which was divided into two apartments, each eight 
feet square, and opening at one end into a small 
verandah. The floor, made of elastic slips of bam- 
boo, with the polished surface upwards, and raised 
about six inches from the ground, was covered 
with a thin cane mat. The walls were only five 
feet high, and neatly wattled like a basket ; above 
which rose a pointed roof, thatched slightly with 
rice straw. This pleasant little cabin was occu- 
pied by an elderly man, just sitting down to break- 
fast, as it appeared, for cups, and other tea-things, 
were arranged in proper order on the floor. He 
seemed quite glad to see us, and asked us very 
kindly to sit down, and take some tea and sweet 
cakes along with him. This apartment was ex- 
tremely neat, clean, and well-ordered. On one 
side, against the wall, were fixed a set of shelves, 
covered with cups, bowls, and all sorts of cooking 
utensils of brass, bright and clean ; and on the op- 
posite side hung several wooden hoes, rakes, and 
various other implements of husbandry, character- 
istic of the rural habits of our host, together with 
hats, straw sandals, and printed cotton dresses. 
Higher up. could be seen a sort of loft or garret , 



XOO-CHOO. 



the floor of which was formed by poles laid hori- 
zontally on the walls ; on this platform rested a 
very diminutive plough, made out of the crooked 
branch of a tree, several fishing-nets, and one or 
two baskets of an extremely elegant form. In the 
space between the house and the fence, was buiit a 
pigeon-house and a poultry-yard, kept as clean as 
the house itself ; and close to the edge of the ve- 
randah stood two small spinning-wheels, of a light 
and ingenious construction, but we sought in vain 
for the fair hands that turned them. The trees rose 
so high and thick on every side, that although the 
sun was by this time peering above the hills, the 
cottage was completely shaded, except at one end, 
where a small opening, or vista, through the woods 
en the eastern side, admitted a stream of light into 
the verandah. We sat for some time with the old 
peasant, trying to express our admiration of the 
simplicity, beauty, and comfort of his dwelling ; 
and he appeared unaffectedly pleased with our 
praises of his establishment. 

This was the limit to the longest walk we were 
ever allowed to take on the island. On returning, 
we came to a road, more like a dressed walk in a 
flower-garden than a public highway, by following 
which, we passed through a series of beautiful 
groves, till at length, after winding about a good 
deal, and losing our way completely, we came to 
a double row of tall pine-trees, interspersed with 
many others whose names we were not acquainted 
with, and whose appearance was quite new to us, 
but which afforded a most agreeable shady walk. 
This road, it was suspected, would have led to the 
town ; and therefore, to avoid all risk of giving of- 
fence, we restrained our curiosity, and, on turning 



208 



LOO-CHOO. 



to the right, soon reached the grove of trees, the 
limit to our first walk. At this place Captain 
Maxwell surprised the natives a good deal, by 
shooting several birds on the wing ; but they all 
refused to fire the gun themselves, nor could any 
persuasions induce any one of them to pull the 
trigger, even when the fowling-piece was held by 
another, and it was explained to them that no 
powder was in the pan. 

In the course of the day, the chiefs waited on 
Captain Maxwell, on board the Alceste. He soon 
saw they were very unhappy at something which 
had passed, for they spoke with agitation and alarm, 
seemingly apprehensive of incurring his displea- 
sure. At length lie prevailed upon them to speak 
out, and to say frankly what it was that had so 
greatly discomposed them. After many apologies, 
and much to Captain Maxwell's relief, who feared 
something very disastrous had occurred, they stated, 
that the inhabitants were alarmed by all this firing, 
and would take it as the greatest possible kind- 
ness, if neither Captain Maxwell, nor any of his 
officers, would in future carry fire-arms on shore. 
One of the chiefs gave a very sentimental turn to 
the subject, by pretending that the natives were 
grieved to see their little birds shot. But it was 
clear enough their real apprehension was, that 
some accident might happen through the careless- 
ness of the sportsmen, or the ignorance of the in- 
habitants. 

Captain Maxwell kept his countenance perfectly 
throughout this scene, and instead of treating 
the request with ridicule, hastened to assure them 
of his regret for what had passed ; and to set their 
minds at rest, immediately, and in their presences 



LOO-CHOO. 



209 



wrote an order forbidding any person belonging to 
the ships to fire at the birds, or even to carry a 
gun during our stay at Loo-Choo. 

On Sunday, the 6th of October, after divine 
service, a long conference was held between Cap- 
tain Maxwell and the five chiefs, at which, after 
much discussion, it was agreed on their part to al- 
low the Alceste's stores to be landed, for the pur- 
pose of getting at the leak. Our means of com- 
municating on these occasions, as before remarked, 
were unfortunately not the very best that could be 
wished ; but the interpreter was a shrewd fellow, 
and very ready with evasive answers when hard 
pressed on a topic, the farther discussion of which 
it was desirable to avoid. We generally explained 
as fully as possible to John what our wishes were, 
and left him to communicate them in the best man- 
ner he could. An instance of his quickness oc- 
curred to-day, which seems worth mentioning as 
illustrative of the state of our communication with 
these people. John had told them, by Captain 
Maxwell's desire, that as the leak complained of 
was near the magazine, it would be necessary to 
land the powder. The bare mention of gunpow- 
der was enough to unsettle the nerves of the paci- 
fic Loo-Chooans ; and they accordingly debated 
among themselves long and anxiously on this 
alarming particular ; and at last asked why the 
frigate's powder might not be put on board the 
little ship ? Poor John, who was not aware of 
any good reason why this should not be done, was 
disconcerted for an instant, but soon recovering 
himself, affected to be much surprised at the ques- 
tion, and apprehending that we also might not be 
able to supply a satisfactory answer if referred to, 
18* 



210 



LOO-GH00. 



adroitly warded it off by absolutely refusing to 
interpret it ; adding, that if Captain Maxwell had 
thought such a measure right he would not have 
waited till it was suggested to him by the chiefs. 
The light in which he had thus ingeniously put the 
subject made them sensible of the indelicacy of 
dictating to Captain Maxwell on a point of duty, 
and they entreated John not to mention what they 
had just said, declaring that a place should imme- 
diately be assigned for the powder. 

This day furnished a new circumstance in their 
diplomatic conversation, for the chiefs talked un- 
reservedly of the king, the very mention of whose 
name they had hitherto studiously avoided. They 
declared that it was the king of the Island who had 
sent all the stock and vegetables with w T hich we 
had been daily supplied. Captain Maxwell, who 
was naturally desirous of establishing a communi- 
cation with the court, no sooner saw this opening 
than he intimated his intention of paying his duti- 
ful respects to the king, whenever it might be con- 
venient for his majesty to receive him. To our 
great surprise they heard this with apparent satis- 
faction, and distinctly said the offer should be made 
known at court. We were much at a loss to dis- 
cover any rational cause for this sudden change of 
tone ; and could only conjecture that the king, on 
hearing many reports about us, might have be- 
come so desirous to see us with his own eyes, as to 
relax the strict etiquette of his nation, and for once 
condescend to allow his sacred person to be looked 
upon by the profane eyes of strangers. At all 
events it was obvious that some alteration must 
have been made in the instructions to the chiefs, 
otherwise they would have betrayed their wonted 



LOO-CKOO. 



211 



reserve whenever the king's name was mentioned, 
and least of all would they have encouraged the 
idea of our actually visiting the palace. 

At one o'clock we went on shore by the invita- 
tion of the chiefs, to look at the place appropria- 
ted for the reception of the Alceste's stores. It 
was an oblong enclosure, sixty yards by forty, sur- 
rounded by a wall twelve feet high, compactly built 
with squared blocks of coral : the entrance was by 
a large gate on the south side, from which there 
extended raised gravel-walks, bordered by clip- 
ped hedges, the intermediate spaces being laid out 
in beds like a garden. The large temple in which 
we were feasted on the day of our first visit, oc- 
cupied one corner of the enclosure, where it was 
completely shaded by a grove of fine trees, which 
overtopped the enclosing wall. In that part of the 
garden directly opposite the gate, at the upper 
end of the walk, stood a smaller pagoda, nearly 
hid by the branches of several large banyan trees ; 
and before it, at the distance of ten or twelve pa- 
ces, a small square building, with a raised terrace 
round it. The interior of the temple first spoken 
of was divided by means of shifting pannels into 
four apartments ; with a verandah running ail 
round, and rows of polished wooden pillars on its 
outer edge supporting the roof, which extended 
considerably beyond the columns. The roof was 
sloping, and covered with handsome tiles ; those 
forming the eaves being ornamented with flowers 
and various figures in relief. In one of the inner 
apartments we found three gilt images, eighteen 
inches high, with a red flower growing in a vase 
before them. The rooms within were ten feet 
high ; and all the cornices, pillars and other wood- 



LOO-CHOO. 



en parts of the building, were very neatly carved 
into flowers, and grotesque figures of various ani- 
mals. The ground immediately round was divi- 
ded into a number of small plots, or beds, planted 
with different shrubs and flowers ; and on a pedes- 
tal of artificial rock, in one of the walks close to 
it, stood an elegant urn, full of water, which the 
Bodzes cast on the surrounding plants, by means 
of a large wooden spoon swimming on the sur- 
face. On a frame near one of the out-houses, was 
suspended a large bell, three feet high, resembling 
a bee hive in shape, and richly ornamented in high 
relief. 

It being determined to appropriate part of the 
largest building to the use of the sick and their at- 
tendants, the assistant surgeon of the Alceste took 
possession of one room, and the gunner, who w r as 
to have the whole enclosure under his charge, of 
another. The small pagoda-shaped building, at 
the upper end of the walk, being a retired spot, 
was assigned to me as an observatory, while the 
square house in the centre seemed well adapted for 
a powder magazine. At the gate a notice was 
bung up, both in English and in the Loo-Choo lan- 
guage, signifying, that no person was to enter with- 
out a written permission from Captain Maxwell, 
or from one of the chiefs. During the 7th and 8th 
of October w T e were busily occupied in carrying 
the above arrangements into effect. Nothing could 
be more interesting than to observe the care the 
natives took of the sick men. They crowded 
round to assist them out of the boats, and carried 
those who were confined to their beds, all the way 
from the beach to the hospital. A number of the 
people attended also to support the invalids, who 



LOO-CHOO. 



213 



had barely strength to walk ; and others were 
happy to be permitted to carry the clothes. No 
sooner were the sick men safely lodged, than eggs, 
milk, fowls, and vegetables, all ready cooked, were 
brought to them. Afterwards, when any of the 
convalescent were tempted by the beauty of the 
weather to venture out of doors, the natives were 
always in readiness to accompany them, and to 
lend their arms whenever their infirm guests became 
tired. 

In a little plot of ground in the garden, Mr. Phi- 
lips, purser of the Alceste, sowed mustard, peas, 
and*a variety of other seeds, which he had fortu- 
nately brought with him from England ; the na- 
tives taking down his directions for their culture. 
As there happened to be no botanist among us, we 
spared no pains to supply the deficiency, by making 
collections of every plant at the place. These 
were carefully preserved, according to directions 
we had received from Mr. Clarke Abel, chief me- 
dical officer and naturalist to the Embassy, and 
given to him at our meeting at Canton. But un- 
fortunately the whole of these, together with a 
large collection of zoophites and madripores, sha- 
red the fate of the invaluable collections made in 
China by this scientific and industrious observer, 
being all lost in the disastrous shipwreck which 
followed. 

The powder was landed next day, and Mr. Hol- 
man, the gunner of the frigate, began the opera- 
tion of drying it on hides, spread in the sun round 
the magazine. The cows were also landed, one 
of which calved that night, to the surprise of eve- 
rybody, and the great joy of the natives, who took 
a particular fancy to the little English bull bora 



L00-CH00. 



among them, and which Captain Maxwell said he 
intended to leave on the island. Mr. Mayne, the 
master of the Alceste, took up his quarters on 
shore, in order to be near the observatory. The 
cordage, sails, and stores of all kinds, which were 
sent from the frigate, produced an apparent confu- 
sion ; and the chiefs, seeing so many valuable 
things lying about, began to fear that they might 
be lost. This, at least, was supposed, for orders 
were given to have the garden fenced round by a 
sort of net- work of long poles, the ends of which 
were fixed in the ground, near the wall, on the 
outside, the tops being made to cross one another 
four or five feet above it. This labour, like many 
well-intended contrivances in this world, instead 
of rendering the place secure, only contributed to 
make it more accessible. But as our opinion wa9 
not asked, and we had not the least apprehension 
of theft, we allowed the natives to proceed in their 
own way. 

Mrs. Loy, wife of the boatswain of the Alceste, 
who was the only female in our squadron, of course 
excited no small interest at Loo-Choo. She was 
a perfectly well-behaved person, and sufficiently 
neat in her dress, but without any great preten- 
sions to good looks, or high breeding. The na- 
tives, however, paid her much attention, and show- 
ed at all times a disposition to grant her every in- 
dulgence, whatever restraints they might impose 
upon us. They even went so far as to say, upon 
one occasion, that she might go into the city ; but 
upon consulting with her husband, who was ap- 
prehensive of some accident, she declined the of- 
fer. When this circumstance became known to 
us, we easily convinced the boatswain that no mis- 



LOO-CHQ0. 



215 



chief could possibly arise from trusting his wife 
among such kind people, but it now appeared 
that the lady herself was not anxious to go. Thus 
the only opportunity of seeing the capital of Loo- 
Choo which occurred during our visit, was lost from 
an absence of female curiosity. 

This worthy lady remained on board the Alceste 
till the time of the shipwreck. The charge of ti- 
midity urged against her at Loo-Choo was now 
found to be unjust : She bore all the hardships, 
dangers, and anxieties consequent upon that dis- 
astrous event, with the characteristic patience and 
fortitude of her sex. The effort, however, was too 
great, or too long sustained, for her strength ; and 
when the necessity for exertion was over, she gave 
way, and died shortly afterwards on the passage 
from Java to England. 

Two of the natives, who had been studying Eng- 
lish with great assiduity, and with considerable 
success, came much into notice about this time. 
They carried note-books in imitation of Mr. Clif- 
ford, in which they recorded every word of English 
they learned, using of course the Chinese charac- 
ter. They lived much among the strangers, and 
were soon discovered to be shrewd and observant 
young men. From the respect occasionally paid 
to one of them by his countrymen, he was some- 
times suspected of being a man of high rank, and 
we conjectured his object in maintaining any dis- 
guise about the matter was to obtain a less con- 
strained intercourse with all the different classes 
on board the ships. This young man, whose name 
was Madeira, by his great liveliness and singular 
propriety of manners, very soon became a univer- 
sal favourite, and adopted all our customs with a 



216 



L00-CH00. 



sort of intuitive readiness. He sat at table, used 
a knife and fork, conversed and walked with us, 
and followed our example in every thing, quite as a 
matter of course, without effort or study. He re- 
commended himself greatly to us also by the un- 
reserved way in which he communicated every 
thing relating to his country ; so that as he advan- 
ced in the study of English, and we made progress 
in the Loo-Choo language, the means were afford- 
ed of gaining much useful information. An in- 
stance of his proficiency in English may be quo- 
ted. About three weeks after our arrival at the 
Island, he came on board the Lyra one day in a 
great hurry, and without the least hesitation, said 
to me, u The Ta-yin speak me, you go ship, John 
come shore," by which I readily understood that 
Captain Maxwell had sent him off to order the in- 
terpreter on shore. 

Many other natives also had by this time con- 
trived to acquire a little English, so that Mr. Clif- 
ford had now little difficulty in finding people wil- 
ling to instruct him, and who would take pains to 
correct his pronunciation, by far the greatest diffi- 
culty we had to encounter. In general the natives 
were either afraid to correct us, or were not aware 
in what our error consisted, and it required much 
encouragement on our part to make them speak 
out frankly on the subject. One of our best 
teachers was called Yackbee Oomeejeero ; he 
would never permit Mr. Clifford to write down a 
single expression till the exact Loo-Choo sound 
which belonged to the words was acquired. Like 
his companions, however, he showed an invincible 
objection to giving any information about the fe- 
male part of the society. One day when closely 



&00-CHOG, 



cross-questioned, he admitted that he was himself 
married, and told without reserve the names of his 
sons ; but when asked that of his daughters, he 
became as fldgetty and unhappy as if we had been 
going to run away with them, and instantly changed 
the subject. In order to provoke him into some 
farther communication, we told him one day, that 
we believed there were actually no women on the 
Island. Yackabee for a moment was thrown off 
his guard, and answered hastily, that he had both 
a wife and a daughter, but instantly checking him- 
self he tried to turn the conversation into some 
other channel, very much annoyed at his own in- 
discretion. When the picture of an English lady 
was shown to him, he commended it highly, saying 
at the same time, u Loo-Choo women not so 
handsome." This worthy gentleman was a better 
teacher than a scholar ; he called the letter L n 
air oo ; and veal, hairoo. 

During our intercourse with these people, there 
never occurred one instance of theft, although the 
natives were at all times permitted to come on 
board indiscriminately, and to go into the cabins, 
store-rooms, or wherever else they thought fit, 
without being watched. On shore it was the same, 
where the Alceste's stores of every kind, as well 
as the carpenter's and armourer's tools, were lying 
about ; and in the observatory, the instruments, 
books, and pencils, were merely placed under 
cover to shelter them from the dew, but under no 
lock and key, and without any guard ; yet not a 
single article was taken away, though many hun- 
dreds of people were daily admitted, and allowed 
to touch and to examine whatever they pleased. 

This extraordinarv degree of honestv is a feature 
19 



218 



LOO-CHOO. 



which distinguishes the people of Loo-Choo from 
the inhabitants of thre South Sea Islands, and of 
many of the Malay Archipelago, among whom 
even the certainty of the severest and most sum- 
mary punishment, as was ascertained by Captain 
Cook and others, often proved insufficient to pre- 
vent theft At Loo-Choo, indeed, the people are 
considerably more advanced in civilization than 
the rude tribes alluded to. Ttieir wants also, 
which are few, are easily supplied, and they seem 
perfectly contented. Notwithstanding these cir- 
cumstances, however, the fact of this extreme 
honesty, among people exposed to such temptation, 
is in the highest degree curious. 



CHAPTER VII. 

EXAMINATION OF THE COAS.T OF THE GREAT LOU- 

CHOO ISLAND, BY THE LYRA DISCOVERY OF FORT 

MELVILLE ADVENTURES AMONG THE NATIVES 

AT THE NORTH END OF THE ISLAND. 

All things being now in a fair train, it was decided 
by Captain Maxwell that a general survey should 
be made of the Island, and the Lyra was accord- 
ingly ordered upon this service. We were absent 
about a week, during which period a general chart 
of the island was constructed. It must be obvi- 
ous to every one acquainted with the subject, that, 
in so short a time, a minute survey of the coasts 
of an island nearly sixty miles long could not have 
been made ; yet, as the weather was in general 
fine, and other circumstances favourable, the chart 



LOO-CIIOO. 



219 



will be found sufficiently correct for most practical 
purposes. As all the necessary nautical and hy- 
drograpbical details are lodged in the Admiralty, 
within the reach of professional men, I shall con- 
fine myself at present to such particulars of the 
cruize as seem most likely to interest the general 
reader. 

On the 9th of October, 1816, at daybreak, we 
got under weigh and stood to sea through a passage 
recently discovered by the boats ; it was so ex- 
tremely narrow, that the least deviation from the 
direct course brought us close to the rocks. We 
were guided in steering by two marks on the land, 
lying in the same straight line with the centre of 
the passage : these it was necessary to keep always 
together ; but not being aware that such extreme 
nicety was required, the marks were allowed to 
separate in a small degree, by which deviation 
from the strict pilotage we found ourselves within 
three or four yards of a coral reef, the ragged tops 
of which were distinctly visible two or three feet 
below the surface, while at the same moment the 
leadsman on the opposite side of the ship sounded 
in nine fathoms. This early proof of the danger 
of navigating among coral, by teaching us the ne- 
cessity of extreme caution, was of great import- 
ance to us in our future operations. 

As the coast lying between Napakiang and the 
Sugar Loaf had already been examined, we pro- 
ceeded at once round that island, which, from its 
having the same aspect on every bearing, and 
being quite different in shape from any land in the 
neighbourhood, affords the best possible landmark 
for navigators. The natives call it Eegooshcoond, 
or castle. We discovered the meaning of this 



220 



LOO-CHOO. 



Loo-Choo word by hearing one of the natives ap- 
ply it to the rook on the chess-board ; and when 
drawings of towers and castles were shown to him, 
he used the same term. 

Having rounded this peak, and stood towards 
the north-west side of the great island, where there 
seemed to be a deep bight or bay, another small 
island was observed close inshore, behind which 
it was thought there might possibly be shelter for 
ships : the coast, however, being unknown to us, 
it was not deemed safe to carry the brig very close 
in, until a boat had been despatched to reconnoitre. 
At eight o'clock the officer returned to say there 
was a harbour in the main land, the entrance to 
which lay beyond the small island mentioned be- 
fore ; but as the passages were narrow and winding, 
a more careful examination was necessary before 
the brig could venture to proceed. 

Next morning we again stood towards the shore, 
using the precaution of sending a boat ahead to 
sound the way. When near the entrance, we an- 
chored, and proceeded in three boats to examine 
the harbour discovered last night. As it was near 
noon when the boats passed the small island, we 
landed, and observed the meridian altitude of the 
sun ; after which we entered the harbour in the 
main island, by an intricate passage, about a quar- 
ter of a mile in length, and scarcely two hundred 
yards wide. We now found ourselves in a circular 
basin upwards of half a mile in diameter across, 
with deep water, and completely sheltered from 
all winds. On its western shore stood a large and 
beautiful village, almost hid among trees, with a 
high wooded range rising behind it, and stretching 
far to the south. The eastern shore was low, and 



Loo-eiioo. 



221 



laid out in fiat fields for the manufacture of salt, 
round which were scattered a few huts. At first 
sight this basin, or harbour, appeared to have no 
outlet except the one we had examined ; but on 
rowing to its upper or southern extremity, we were 
surprised to find it connected by a narrow channel 
to another harbour still larger, and if possible 
more beautiful than the first ; for here the land 
was high on both sides, and covered with wood 
from top to bottom. Proceeding onwards through 
this basin, which had more the appearance of an 
inland lake than an arm of the sea, we came to a 
second narrow gorge or outlet, formed by cliffs 
rising abruptly out of the water to the height of a 
hundred feet. Both sides were covered with trees, 
and their branches, when viewed from a little dis- 
tance, seemed to meet overhead. The space be* 
low was cool and pleasant, and the water, thus 
sheltered from every wind, was as smooth as glass ; 
the woods were rilled with singing birds, and the 
foliage being in the highest style of oriental luxu- 
riance, it was not possible to imagine a more beau- 
tiful scene. We rowed along for some time by 
various windings through this fairy harbour, in to- 
tal uncertainty of what was to come next, and at 
every moment discovering new beauties, till at 
last, after advancing about three miles, we found 
ourselves in an extensive loch, several miles in 
length, and studded over with numerous small 
islands. The depth of water was in this place 
from four to six fathoms ; but in the narrow neck 
which connected it with the sea, we had found the 
depth to vary from ten to twenty fathoms, being 
deepest at the narrowest parts. Innumerable 
ships Efright ride in perfect safety, during the most 
19* 



222 



LOO-CIIGO. 



violent tempests, in any part of this beautiful har- 
bour ; the shores of which are so varied, that 
every purpose of re-equipment might be answered. 
At some places natural wharfs are formed by the 
rocks, with eight and ten fathoms water close to 
them, alongside which ships might lie ; or they 
might heave down by them. There are also shal- 
low spots on which, if required, the ships might 
be careened. Many of the cliffs are hollowed in- 
to natural caves, which would answer for store- 
houses ; and in the numerous lawns on both sides 
encampments might be formed for any number of 
people. 

We rowed directly across the open lake, and 
landed at the southern side, at the base of a wooden 
range of hills, forming the southern boundary of 
the landscape. As no road was observed, it was 
resolved to go directly up the hill, and, in about an 
hour, after a good deal of scrambling among the 
bushes and long grass, w-e gained the top, where 
we discovered a neat pathway with a ditch, and a 
bridge on each side, like an English lane. With- 
out knowing where this might conduct us, we fol- 
lowed it, in hopes of meeting some of the people, 
none of whom had yet been seen. 

The trees on this range of hills were low, and 
of no great beauty ; fir and pine, and a low spe- 
cies of oak, being the most common ; the rest 
were new to us. The view from this elevation 
was very satisfactory, as it enabled us to check our 
rough eye-draught of the harbour and coast. After 
walking about a mile, our path turned abruptly 
down the brow of the hill, and appeared to lead to 
a large village at some distance. This road was so 
steep that it was barely possible to walk upon it. 



loo-choo. 



At the bottom stood a little cottage, consisting of 
two compartments, made of wattled canes, con- 
nected by a light open bamboo roof of trellis-work, 
so thickly covered with a large-leaved creeper as 
to afford a complete shelter from the sun. The 
cottage itself, which was thatched, was also enve- 
loped in creepers, encircled by the usual rattan 
fence at two or three yards' distance. One of the 
wings was occupied by goats, the other, which 
was dark, seemed to belong to the people, who 
had deserted it on our approach. There being 
only a small hole in the wall to admit light and air, 
and to allow the smoke to escape, every thing in- 
side was black and dirty 

As we had not yet seen any kind of military 
weapons, at Loo-Choo, we looked out for them 
sharply at all these places. The natives always 
declared that they had none, and their behaviour 
on seeing a musket fired implied an ignorance of 
fire-arms. In one of the cottages we found two 
spears which had the appearance of warlike wea- 
pons ; but there was every reason to believe they 
were used for the sole purpose of striking fish, 
others not very dissimilar having been seen in the 
boats. The natives looked at our swords and cut- 
lasses, and at some Malay creeses and spears, 
which we had got at Java, with equal surprise, be- 
ing apparently ignorant of them all. The chiefs 
carried little knives in cases, thurst into the folds 
of their robes, or in the girdle, and the lower orders 
wore a larger knife ; but these were always for 
common use, and certainly not worn for defence 
or ornament ; and they always denied having any 
knowledge of war, either by experience or by tra- 
dition. 



LOO-CHOO. 



On returning to the boats, we found them sur- 
rounded by a party of the natives, lower, wc 
thought, in stature than our friends at Napakiang, 
and possessed of less curiosity ; although, proba- 
bly, their surprise at our sudden appearance had 
not subsided sufficiently to aliow of their indulging 
in minute inquiries. A large party watched us 
attentively while a musket was loaded ; when it 
was pointed over their heads in the air, they If ere 
aware that something was going to happen, but 
from their not shrinking or removing out of the 
way, it seemed they knew not what. When it 
was fired, the whole party fell on their faces, as if 
they had been shot, but rose instantly again, and 
looking to the right and left at one another, in- 
dulged in a timorous laugh. A cartridge was very 
imprudently given to one man, with which he was 
nearly blowing himself up by placing it on his 
lighted pipe. 

On returning by the narrow harbour, we called 
at some of the small villages on the eastern side. 
At one of these, the inhabitants, headed by an el- 
derly man who appeared to have authority over the 
rest, came towards the boat, but stopped at the 
distance of fifty yards. After pausing for some 
minutes, they appeared to gain confidence, for 
they came forward, with the old man at their head, 
carrying a green bough in his hand. He would 
not venture very near, however, till repeatedly in- 
vited by Mr. Clifford in the Loo-Choo language, 
to look at the boat. He at last advanced in fear 
and trembling, and presented his bough ; in return 
for which we broke a branch from a tree, and gave 
it to him with the 7 same formality he had used to- 
wards us. Soon after this exchange was made, 



JLOO-eHOO. 



22b 



they left us, and went to examine our boat, na- 
turally enough an object of primary interest to 
fishermen. 

On entering the village we were met by a man 
who appeared to be the principal person of the 
place ; after showing us the village, he carried us 
over his garden, where he had some sugar-canes 
growing, and, upon our admiring his crop, ordered 
one of the finest and longest canes to be taken up 
by the roots and presented to us. We gave him 
in return a few buttons, with which he seemed 
more pleased than with the money we offered him. 
On its beginning to rain while we were looking at 
the garden, he invited us into the house, which, 
from the walls being of wattled canes, looked more 
like a large bird-cage than a dwelling for men. 
Rude pictures and carved woodwork figures were 
hanging on the walls, along with some inscriptions 
in Chinese characters. 

On returning to the lower harbour, we rowed to 
the large village, situated on its western bank. It 
was by far the most complete of any we had seen 
on the island ; the streets being regular and clean ; 
and each house having round about it a neat cane 
wall, as well as a screen before the door ; plantain 
and other trees were growing so thickly on the in- 
ner side of these fences, that most of the houses 
must have been thrown into complete shade even 
during the middle of the day. In front of several 
of the houses lying near the beach, we found a 
number of people seated with writing materials be- 
fore them. On accosting them, they invited us to 
partake of their tea and cakes, and afterwards gave 
us permission to go all over the village without re- 
straint. The inhabitants were curious to know 



226 



LOOCHOO. 



whether the brig was coming into the harbour or 
not, and if so, how many days we meant to remain ; 
they expressed neither pleasure nor regret when 
informed that the ship was not coming farther. 
Before the village and parallel with the beach, there 
was planted a hne avenue, thirty feet wide, and a 
quarter of a mile long, formed by two rows of 
large trees, whose branches joined overhead, and 
effectually excluded the rays of the sun ; here and 
there were placed wooden benches, and at some 
places stone seats fixetl near the trees. This vil- 
lage was called Oonting, and is certainly that to 
which the chiefs alluded at an early stage of our 
acquaintance. 

A range of hills of a semicircular form embrace 
the village, and limit its extent : at most places 
their sides are steep, but at the point where the 
north end joins the harbour an overhanging cliff 
rises about eighty feet high, the upper part of 
which projects considerably beyond the base. At 
eight or ten yards from the ground on this inclined 
face, we observed a long horizontal gallery hewn 
out of the solid rock, communicating with a num- 
ber of small square excavations lying still deeper in 
the rock, intended, as the natives gave us to under- 
stand, for the reception of vases containing the 
bones of the dead. 

The trees and long creepers growing on the edge 
of this precipice hung down so low, as almost to 
meet the top branches of those on the plain be- 
neath ; thus forming a screen of foliage hanging 
like a veil before the rock, and throwing the gallery 
into deep shade. Every thing in this beautiful 
cemetery was perfectly still and silent, and the 
whole scene exceedingly solemn. It took us, in- 



LOO-CHOO. 



£27 



deed, somewhat by surprise, for nothing in its 
external appearance had indicated the mournful 
purpose to which it was appropriated. On passing 
we had accidentally discovered an opening among 
the trees and brushwood, and resolving to see what 
it might lead to, had entered by a narrow path 
winding through the grove. The liveliness of the 
scenery without, and the various amusements of 
the day, had put us all into high spirits ; but the 
unexpected and sacred gloom of the scene in which 
we suddenly found ourselves had an instantaneous 
effect in repressing the mirth of the whole party, 
who marched out again like so many reformed 
scoffers from the cave of Trophonius. 

We named this excellent harbour which we had 
discovered, Port Melville, in honour of the First 
Lord of the Admiralty. 

As it w r as quite dark before we reached the brig, 
and a heavy sea rolled in, no time was lost in 
getting under weigh ; but before we could succeed 
in running well or! shore, the wind suddenly 
changed, and the weather, which before had been 
fine, became so dark and squally, that we almost 
lost sight of the coast. Our situation was now 
very critical, for we had just sufficient knowledge 
of the place to be sensible how extremely dange- 
rous it was ; and the wind, which blew directly on 
the coast, came in such violent gusts, that there 
was great reason to apprehend the loss of our 
topmasts, in which case we must infallibly have 
perished : to reef the topsails was out of the ques- 
tion, as the delay which this operation must have 
caused, hpwever expertly executed, would have 
proved fatal. While things were in this state, it 
became necessary to tack, in order to avoid run- 



22S ioocHoo. 

mng on the rocks ; but owing to the heavy and 
irregular swell, this evolution failed, and before the 
sails could be trimmed again, the brig had gone 
stern foremost almost to the verge of the reef, on 
which the sea was breaking to a vast height. For- 
tunately we were more successful on the next at- 
tempt, otherwise nothing could have saved us. 
But we gained so little at each tack, that our course 
backwards and forwards, for upwards of an hour, 
lay parallel with the line of breakers, at the distance 
of less than a quarter of a mile under our lee ; 
after which the wind shifted a little, and enabled 
us to stretch off, clear of all danger. 

During the 12th it blew so hard that we were 
under the necessity of keeping out at sea, clear of 
the shore, but on the 13th the weather becoming 
moderate, we stood in again to determine the po- 
sition of five islands lying to the northward of Port 
Melville. 

On the 14th the whole eastern side of the island 
of Loo-Choo was explored. The north and north- 
east sides were found to be high, and nearly des- 
titute of cultivation. At one place w r e discovered 
a deep indenture on the coast, and the wind being 
such as to admit of sailing both in and out, we 
stood on under low sail, taking all the usual pre- 
cautions; notwithstanding which we very nearly 
ran aground, for the water shoaled suddenly from 
twenty-four to eight fathoms ; and although the 
brig was instantly tacked, the soundings as she 
came round were only five fathoms, while to lee- 
ward, at the distance of only fifty yards, the ragged 
tops of a rock just level with the surface w ere dis- 
covered. The coast from this bay to the south 
point of the island was found everywhere fringed 



LOO-GHOO. 



2M 



with coral reefs, extending many miles from the 
shore, and rendering this part of the island in the 
highest degree dangerous. The extreme south 
point being comparatively clear of rocks, we an- 
chored off it at sunset, proposing to land with our 
instruments next day, to determine its true posi- 
tion. We found the iron cables of great use 
during this cruise, when obliged to anchor among 
these reefs, as those made of hemp would have 
been cut through in a very short time. 

It blew hard during the night, but in the fore- 
noon of the 15th, moderated sufficiently to allow 
of our landing, and we ascertained the latitude of 
the extreme south point of the island to be 26° 
43' N. and the longitude 127° 35^' E. 

We had scarcely effected a landing before the 
natives began to assemble in groups on the top of 
the cliffs, and in a short time came down to the 
shore, most of them brandishing long poles in 
their hands. We were too well aware of their in- 
offensive character to have any apprehension of 
an attack, otherwise this appearance would have 
looked somewhat formidable. There was no per- 
son of rank among them, and they were more 
communicative, and more curious than their coun- 
trymen to the northward on the shores of Port 
Melville ; a difference caused possibly by these 
people having already heard something of us by- 
report from Napakiang, not above ten miles dis- 
tant. A certain degree of acquaintance, indeed, 
seems necessary before curiosity is properly awa- 
kened : at least we generally found the most igno- 
rant people the least curious. Spears in the form of 
a trident, with rude barbs, were tatooed on most of 
their arms, affording the only example we saw at 
20 



230 



LOO-CHOO. 



Loo-Choo of such a practice. Our curiosity was 
naturally excited by these appearances, as we had 
never seen any warlike weapon on the island ; but 
the people invariably called them " Eeo stitchee,' 5 
fish spears. Several of the tallest of these men were 
measured, but none were above five feet six inches, 
though in general strong limbed, and well propor- 
tioned. One of them wore a ring on his finger, 
which is remarkable from being the only instance 
we met with of any such ornament at Loo-Choo : 
yet it is odd enough that what we distinguish by 
the name of the ring-finger is also so called in the 
Loo-Choo language, M Eebee gannee," ringer of 
the ring ; and it seems a fair inference from this, 
that among some part of the community rings 
are habitually worn, probably by the women. On 
the 16th of October we returned to Napakiang 
harbour after having completed the circuit of the 
island. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PROGRESS OF OUR ACQUAIXTAXCE WITH THE NA- 
TIVES 3IADDRA DIXXER GIVEX TO THE CHIEES 

THE PRIXCE OF LOO-CHOO's VISIT TO CAPTAIX 

MAXWELL EXTERTAIXjIEXT GIVEX BY THE 

CHIEFS TO CAPTAIX MAXWELL LIST OF ARTICLES 

SUPPLIED TO THE SHIPS EY THE GOVERXMEXT OF 
LOO-CHOO PARTIXG SCEXE LEAVE THE ISLAXD. 

We found things pretty nearly in the state we had 
left them : the best understanding seemed still to 
exist between our people and the natives, and 



XGO-CHGO. 



231 



everybody was now allowed to walk about, and do 
as he pleased. The frigate had also been bounti- 
fully supplied with live stock and vegetables ; and 
the sick on shore were rapidly recovering under 
the care of the natives, who took a peculiar plea- 
sure in supplying all their wants, and in studying 
to provide those numberless little comforts which 
contribute so much to the recovery of invalids. 

A young man belonging to the Alceste had died 
during our absence. When the chiefs were in- 
formed of this circumstance, they requested Cap- 
tain Maxwell's permission to make the grave, and 
begged him to point out the spot which he would 
like best for this purpose. With his wonted good 
taste, he received this offer as a high compliment, 
and gratified the whole population, among whom 
it was instantly circulated, by saying that no situa- 
tion could be more appropriate than under the 
grove of fir-trees near the temple, a spot already 
rendered sacred by many Loo-Choo tombs. The 
grave was accordingly dug by the natives, and on 
the next day the body was carried to it with all 
the formalities usual on such occasions. Captain 
Maxwell, according to military custom, which at 
funerals inverts the usual order of precedence, 
walked last, with the crew and officers before him. 
For a moment this unexpected arrangement puz- 
zled our worthy friends, who were at a loss where 
to place themselves. The genuine politeness of 
their nature, however, readily pointed out the pro- 
per course ; and perceiving that the persons of 
highest rank walked in the rear, they decided that 
their station must be in front. They accordingly 
took the lead, and afterwards remained by the side 
of the grave while the service was read, to Which 



LOO-CHOO. 



ihey listened with the most profound attention. 
All the natives present upon this occasion were 
dressed in pure white, which is their mourning. 
Next day the natives requested leave to erect a 
lomb-stone over the grave of our departed coun- 
tryman, an offer which was cheerfully accepted. 
When the building was completed, they performed, 
as I was told, their own funeral rites over it, by 
sacrificing a large hog, and burning a quantity of 
spirits. On this occasion Jeeroo is described as 
having officiated, and when he had done all that 
was requisite, he carried the hog as a present to 
the sick in the hospital. The epitaph, written in 
Loo-Choo and English, after setting forth the name 
and age of the deceased, stated briefly, that he and 
his companions, in his Majesty's ships Alceste and 
Lyra, had been kindly treated by the inhabitants 
of this island. 

Our good friends expressed much pleasure on 
meeting us again, particularly Jeeroo, who took 
great interest in all our concerns. He carried us 
up to the sailor's tomb, where the party was join- 
ed by Ookooma, Jeema, and some of the others. 
I was glad to find some sick men of my ship who 
had been landed previous to our sailing on the sur- 
vey, much recovered, and very grateful for the 
kindness of the natives. Milk, eggs, meat, and 
vegetables, had been brought to them every day ; 
and whenever they felt disposed to take exercise, 
were sure to be accompanied by one or two of the 
natives, who held their arms on coming to rough 
ground, and helped them up the steep side of the 
hill behind the hospital, to a pleasant grassy spot 
on the summit, and having lighted pipes for them, 
remained patiently till the invalids wished to return. 



L00-CH00. 



233 



In short, I suppose sailors were never so caressed 
before ; and it was pleasing* to observe how much 
our hardy seamen were softened by such gentle 
intercourse : for it was not to the sick alone that 
the influence of this unaffected suavity of manners 
extended. The whole crews of both ships partici- 
pated in the same kindly sentiment, and laid aside 
for the time all their habitual roughness of manner, 
and without any interference on the part of the 
officers, treated the natives at all times with the 
greatest consideration and kindness. 

The chiefs were all anxiety to know what we had 
been doing during our absence ; but from an ap- 
prehension that they might be displeased at a regu- 
lar examination of the whole island, we merely 
mentioned among other things, that we had been 
looking at the harbour they had formerly spoken 
of. They immediately exclaimed, Oonting ! and 
asked how we liked the spot. They guessed that 
we had been round the island, from seeing us re- 
turn by the south, though the course had first been 
to the northward. They repeatedly said their island 
was very small, and very insignificant, appearing 
anxious to depreciate it ; while of course we re- 
plied, that it was very large, and very beautiful. 

Maddra had made great improvement in Eng- 
lish during our absence ; his character was alto- 
gether more developed, and being now quite at his 
ease in our company, took an unaffected interest in 
every thing belonging to us. But his earnest desire 
to inform himself on all subjects sometimes dis- 
tressed him a good deal. Having discovered the 
facility with which he accomplished some things, 
his enterprising mind immediately suggested the 
possibility of imitating us in all : but when made 
20* 



2S4 



LOO-CHOO. 



sensible of the number of steps by which alone the 
knowledge he aspired to could be attained, his 
despair was strongly marked. One day, on shore, • 
seeing me with a book in my hand, he begged me 
to sit down under a tree and read. Jeeroo was the 
only chief present, but there were several of the 
peasants in attendance. The whole party lay down 
on the grass, and listened with deep attention and 
interest, especially Maddra ; the rest were perfect- 
ly contented ; but it was his wish to be able to read 
in the same manner himself, and he in vain tried 
to do so. 

From the earnest way in which he inquired into 
every subject, it w as often suspected he must have 
been directed by the government to inform him- 
self on these topics ; and certainly a fitter person 
could not have been selected ; for by adapting 
himself to all ranks, he soon became a universal 
favourite, and obtained whatever information he 
desired. Jeeroo was quite a different person, and 
v. as valued on other accounts. He w 7 as uniformly 
good-humoured and obliging, and not without a 
considerable share of curiosity ; but he was not 
nearly so clever, and showed none of that ardent 
enthusiasm so remarkable in Maddra. Every one 
felt kindly towards Jeeroo, laughed and joked with 
him, and shook him cordially by the hand when- 
ever they met ; but the other was admired and 
respected, as well as esteemed ; and though he. 
too, could be as jocular, if he pleased, or more so> 
than Jeeroo, he was of a higher order of character, 
and his society w r as in general more sought after. 

Maddra was about twenty-eight years of age, 
of a slender figure, and very active ; his upper 
teeth projected a little over the lower ones, giving 



LGO-CHOU. 



''Zoo 



his face a very remarkable, but not a disagreeable 
appearance. He was at all times cheerful, often 
lively and playful ; but his good sense always pre- 
vented his going beyond the line of strict propriety. 
When required by circumstances to be grave, no 
one was so immovably serious as he could be, but 
when the occasion suited, he became the gayest 
among us. Such indeed was his good sense and 
the nicety of his taste, that he not only caught the 
outward tone of the company, but, I believe, really 
thought and felt with them. The enterprising 
spirit and uncommon versatility of taient in this 
interesting native, led him to engage in a great 
number of pursuits at once ; his success, however, 
was most remarkable in the acquisition of English, 
About a month after our arrival, being asked one 
day what had become of his companion Anya, his 
reply was, " Anya ? — him mother sick — he go him 
mother's house and when asked when he would 
return, said, " Two — three — day time, him mother 
no sick, he come ship." With all these attain- 
ments, Maddra was unaffectedly modest and un- 
pretending, neyer seeming at ail aware of being 
superior to the rest of his countrymen. For a 
long time we were in doubt what his rank was ; 
for at first he kept himself so much in the back- 
ground, that before the officers were at all acquaint- 
ed with him he was long known to the midship- 
men. It is true he was always dressed in the style 
of the most respectable natives, and it was evident 
from his manners that he belonged to a higher rank ; 
yet he never associated with the chiefs, and eager- 
ly disclaimed having any pretensions to an equality 
with them. But notwithstanding all this studied 
humility, occasional circumstances occurred, which. 
r 



236 



LGO-CHOO. 



by showing his actual authority, almost betrayed 
his secret. One morning a difficulty arose about 
some supplies which the chiefs had engaged to 
procure, but which had not been sent off : as soon 
as Maddra was told of the omission, he went 
straight to Captain Maxwell, and with the air of a 
man of authority, undertook to arrange it to his 
satisfaction, which he accordingly did ; begging, 
at the same time, that if any similar difficulty arose 
in future, which the chiefs were slow to rectify, he 
might be applied to immediately. 

The great interest which Maddra took in the 
English strangers, and the insatiable curiosity he 
expressed to hear about our customs, naturally 
suggested the idea of taking him with us to Eng- 
land, where, like Lee Boo, he would have been a 
most interesting specimen of a people little known. 
Had this idea been followed up he might have car- 
ried back with him much knowledge useful to his 
country. When this project of going to England 
was proposed to bka, he paused for some minutes, 
and then, shaking his head, said, " If I go Injery; 
— father — mother — childs — wife — house — all cry ! 
not go to Injery ; no, no — all cry I" 

In our absence a number of watch-houses had 
been erected on the heights round the anchorage, 
made of cane thatched over, in which three or 
four of the natives remained day and night, ready 
to accompany any person who happened to land. 
They had erected a long shed also, with a floor of 
split bamboo, on the top of the hill, above the 
usual landing-place, where the chiefs generally as- 
sembled in the morning, and invited every one who 
passed by to drink tea and smoke pipes. This 
proved a very convenient iounging-nlace in the 



Looeiioo. 



237 



heat of the day, after our walks, when the boats 
happened not to be ready to take us on board. 
Each of the principal natives was attended by a 
boy, generally his son, whose business it was to 
carry a little square box, divided into small draw- 
ers, and numerous other compartments, some filled 
with rice, others with sliced eggs and small square 
pieces of smoked pork, cakes, and fish ; in one 
corner was nicely fitted a small metal pot of sackee, 
besides cups, chopsticks, and a store of little 
plates and bowls. By having this supply always at 
hand, they could take dinner when and where they 
pleased. To these parties we were frequently in- 
vited ; and, if we agreed to the proposal, any of 
the other chiefs whom they chanced to meet were 
asked to join the party, and to unite their stock, 
The place selected for these pic-nics was common- 
ly some cool spot, with a spring near at hand, 
generally under the trees. A mat spread on the 
grass was our table-cloth, and every thing being- 
laid out in great order, the party lay round in a 
circle, and seldom broke up till the sackee pots 
were emptied. 

It was impossible not to be struck with the 
amiable manner in which these good people treat- 
ed their children. Whenever anything new was 
shown, they were never happy till they had brought 
the young folks to participate in the satisfaction. 
The parents and children were, I think, more con- 
stant companions than I have seen anywhere else ; 
and the familiarity by which this freedom of in- 
tercourse was attended being always well regula- 
ted, the parental authority remained essentially in 
full force. It was most interesting to observe the 
sagacity with which this authority was waived at 



I 



233 



L00-CH00. 



moments when its exercise might have been detri- 
mental rather than beneficial to good discipline. 
One day, while we were dining in the manner de- 
scribed with the chiefs on the top of the hill, a 
little boy began to exhibit some clever feats of 
tumbling among his companions on the grass be- 
fore us. In a short time all eyes were turned 
towards him, upon discovering which he modestly 
discontinued his feats, appearing to lose confidence 
the moment he was watched. Buttons and vari- 
ous other things were offered to induce him to 
repeat his exhibition ; but in vain. Jeeroo was 
then asked to interfere ; he did so, and told the 
youngster to go on ; but the boy kept his seat on 
the grass, and Jeeroo became angry, or rather 
pretended to be so, yet our tumbler sat resolutely 
still. " Well," said the chief to us, shrugging 
his shoulders, " what is to be done ? It was for his 
own amusement that lie began, and probably for 
his own amusement he will go on again." The 
boy accordingly, when left alone, in a short time 
returned to his gdmbols with more spirit than ever. 
I mention this to show the chiefs good sense in 
not forcing the boy to do that as a task which had 
been begun as an amusement, and which he had 
discernment enough to perceive would be unplea- 
sant for us to witness on other terms. By this 
mild treatment, mutual cordiality and freedom of 
intercourse were established ; and it was probably 
owing to this mode of education that the children 
became so soon at ease and familiar with us. One 
day while I was employed sketching the village and 
trees near the bridge, a fine little fellow came near 
me, and without saying a word, endeavoured to at- 
ractmv notice by performing various antics be- 



LOO-CHOO. 



lore me. Being desirous of seeing how long ho 
would go on, I took no notice of him for some time, 
but at length looked up and smiled ; upon which 
the boy cried out, " How do you do ? Very well, 
I thank you and ran off, quite delighted at 
having displayed his proficiency in English. 

An artist of the island brought a drawing of the 
Alceste on board one day for Captain Maxwell : it 
measured about two feet long, and was altogether 
a singular specimen of the state of the arts in 
Loo-Choo, in which all perspective and proportion 
were curiously disregarded. The Captain and the 
officers, half as tall as the masts, were introduced 
in full uniform, as well as a number of the sailors 
sprawling about the rigging. ¥/ith all this extra- 
vagance, however, the picture had considerable 
merit ; there was nothing slovenly in its execution, 
and it had enough of truth in it to show that it was 
sketched on the spot, and by a person not without 
some knowledge of his subject. 

A dispute arose on the 1 8th between John the 
interpreter and the chiefs, who, it seemed, had po- 
sitively promised to furnish a horse for Captain 
Maxwell's use, but had not kept their word, and 
John declared in great wrath, that he would have 
nothing more to say to people who so notoriously 
disregarded truth. This declaration excited great 
mirth on board the ship : but the humorous point 
is much lost upon those who are not aware of the 
proverbial want of veracity in the Chinese gene- 
rally, and in an especial degree of the class at 
Canton, to which our friend John belonged. 

The people of Loo-Choo appear to have no 
money, and from all we could see or hear, incre- 
dible as it appears, were even ignorant of its use, 



240 



LGO-CHOO. 



Those among the natives, of course, who had 
visited China, could not be so ill-informed, yet 
none even of these showed any desire to possess 
Spanish dollars, or gold coins. Though we fre- 
quently tried to make out from Maddra and the 
other chiefs what their medium of exchange was, 
we could never learn anything satisfactory upon 
the subject. As far as we had tlje means of dis- 
covering, indeed, they were never fully sensible of 
the nature of our questions about money ; a diffi- 
culty, it may be observed, which it was natural to 
expect among people whose sole mode of purchase 
was barter. The only circumstance which came 
to our knowledge bearing at all upon this question, 
occurred when the garden was under preparation 
for the reception of the Alceste's stores. It was 
then remarked that each of the labourers employed 
had a small piece of paper stuck in his hair with 
a single character written upon it ; this of course 
excited our curiosity, but the inquiries we were 
enabled to make at that early stage of our know- 
ledge of the language, led to nothing conclusive. 
Afterwards, when our means in this respect were 
more ample, we could not recall the circumstance 
to the recollection of the chiefs. But as these pa- 
pers were called by the people wearing them u hoe- 
natee,*' and as "hoone" means ship, it was con- 
jectured they were written passes to enable the 
bearers to enter on the ship's business, or they 
might be acknowledgments for the labour done 
while the men were employed in our store-rooms. 

On the 19th of October, before breakfast, Cap- 
tain Maxwell being informed by one of the chiefs 
that a horse was ready for him on the beach, he 
Innded and found a little pony saddled, and stand- 



LOO-CHOO, 



ing by two of the chiefs, who were mounted in or- 
der to bear him company. They objected to his 
riding in the country, where the roads, they pre- 
tended were uneven ; so that his first ride like his 
first walk was confined to the beach. 

A grand entertainment was given on the same 
day by Captain Maxwell to the chiefs. Maddra 
also made one of the party, though not originally 
included in the invitation. As he had never claim- 
ed equality in rank with the chiefs, it was ne& 
thought right to invite him at the same time : but 
he, knowing perfectly well that he would be right 
welcome, and that he would be of essential use 
to both parties, took care to put himself in the way 
just before dinner, and was easily prevailed upon 
to remain. 

Dinner was served up at five o'clock, in as sump- 
tuous a style as possible. Ookooma, the principal 
chief, was placed on Captain Maxwell's right, and 
Shayoon on his left ; Mr. Clifford and I took 
charge of two others, and the officers of the rest. 
The first lieutenant, Mr. Hickman, sat at the bot- 
tom of the table, with one of the chiefs on his right, 
and our friend Maddra on his left. They were all 
in high spirits, and eat and drank freely ; they com- 
plained a little of the size of the glasses, and of 
the strength of the wines, but gallantly tasted eve- 
ry thing from punch to champagne. The briskness 
of this last wine, indeed, surprised them greatly, 
and effectually muddled two of the party for a time. 
Cheese was the only thing objected to, probably 
on account of its being made from milk, which is 
never used on this island. The conversation was 
carried on entirely through Mr Clifford and Mad- 
dra, partlv by signs and partlv by a mixture of 
21 



242 



LOO-CHOO. 



English and Loo-Choo ; but whether intelligibly 
or not. every body was talking merrily under the 
influence of that universal interpreter, the bottle. 
Maddra had dined so often on board the sh ps be- 
fore that he was quite perfect in our customs ; and 
upon this occasion took great charge of the chiefs 
at his end of the table, speaking sometimes in one 
language, and sometimes in the other. Observing 
Jeema eating a slice of ham without mustard, he 
called to Captain Maxwell's servant, and pointing 
to Jeema, said, "Tom, take mustard to him.'" 
When the dessert was put on the table, and the 
wine decanters ranged in a line, they exclaimed 
in astonishment, " Moo eeyroo noo sackee — six 
kinds of sackee !" 

After sitting about an hour and a half after din- 
ner, and drinking with tolerable spirit, they rose to 
depart, but were told this could never be allowed, 
as the English custom was to sit a much longer 
time. They represented that the sun had set, and 
they would never be able to find their way on shore, 
but would all be drowned in making the attempt. 
This alarming difficulty was easily obviated by a 
promise of the Ambassador's barge, and they sat 
down again evidently very well pleased to be per- 
suaded. 

While this discussion was going on between 
Captain Maxwell and his guests, Maddra kept his 
seat, and looked about him in his observant way 
to discover what was likely to be the issue of the 
adventure. Having observed that in general we 
were anxious to keep our company as long at table 
as possible, he naturally enough thought we would 
not let this opportunity pass of entertaining the 
chiefs according to our peculiar fashion- He ap- 



LGO-CHOQ. 



243 



peared to have settled this question with himself 
just as the chiefs resumed their seats, for rising half 
off his chair, and with a mixture of archness and 
simplicity, as if he had just made an amusing dis- 
covery, cried out in English, " When all drunk 
then go ashore!" Though Maddra, as will be 
seen, was not quite right in his guess, there was 
enough of truth in his remark to raise a general 
laugh among those who understood him. He 
joined in the mirth excited by his own joke so 
heartily that it was some time before he could ex- 
plain to the chiefs what he had said ; by this time 
they were in a tolerably merry humour themselves, 
and received it in good part, though their enjoy- 
ment of the jest was evidently dashed by a little 
apprehension of the fate which Maddra antici- 
pated. 

The health of his Royal Highness the Prince 
Regent was then drunk in a bumper, all the com- 
pany standing in the most respectful manner. This 
was followed by the health of the King of Loo- 
Choo, which was drunk with similar honours. On 
sitting down after this toast, the chiefs conferred 
with one another a few minutes across the table, 
and then all rose to propose Captain Maxwell's 
health, their wishes being explained by Maddra. 
When they sat down, Captain Maxwell proposed 
the health of the chiefs, but when we in turn stood 
up to drink this toast, they rose likewise ; ?.nd it 
cost us some trouble to convince them it was right 
they should be seated on the occasion. 

These four bumpers made all the party very 
merry, and it was now intimated, that as all the 
usual formalities had been observed, they might 
drink as much or as little as they pleased. They 



244 



LOO-CIIOO. 



then lighted their pipes at Captain Maxwell's re- 
quest, laughed, joked and seemed so happy, that it 
was agreed on all hands, that conviviality was no- 
where better understood than at Loo-Choo. Af- 
ter a time, they played some native games, at our 
request, the ultimate object of which, like the 
games of other countries, was drinking ; a cup of 
wine being the invariable forfeit ; ,and that every 
thing might be strictly in character, some of 
their own little cups were put on the table. 
The first game was this : One person held the 
stalk of his tobacco-pipe between the palms of 
his hands, so that the pipe might roll round as he 
moved his hands, which were kept over his head 
in such a manner that the pipe was seen by the 
company, but not by himself. After turning it for 
a short time, he suddenly stopped, and the person 
to whom the bowl of the pipe happened to be di- 
rected w r as obliged to drink a cup of wine. Ano- 
ther was a Chinese game : one person held his 
hand closed over his head, and then brought it 
quickly down before him with one or more fingers 
extended ; the person he was playing with called 
out the number, and if he guessed right, he had to 
drink the cup of wine. 

After these and other games, which- caused a 
good deal of noisy mirth, were over, it was pro- 
posed to adjourn to the quarter-deck where the 
sailors were dancing. Before leaving the cabin, 
however, the chiefs entertained us with a Loo- 
Choo dance round the table. Maddra placed him- 
self at the head before Ookooma," while the others 
ranged themselves in a line behind ; he began by a 
song, the air of which was pleasing enough, and 
.nearly at the same time commenced the dance, 



# 



LOO-CHOO. 



245 



which consisted principally in throwing the body 
into various postures, and twisting the arms and 
hands about. The head was made to incline 
slowly from side to side, so as almost to touch the 
shoulders ; while the feet were moved with a slight 
shuffling motion, and an occasional long sweeping 
step to one side and then back again ; but the 
perfection of the dance appeared to be in the pro- 
per use of the hands and body. Although Mad- 
dra was the leader both in the dance and song, he 
was occasionally joined in the words by several of 
the others, the whole party always repeating the last 
word several times over, and in this way went se- 
j veral times round the table. Maddra's dancing, 
though somewhat fantastical at times, was upon 
the whole very graceful ; his singing also was in 
I good taste. The others danced clumsiiy, though 
in good time, and all joined with great spirit in the 
chorus. 

As the ship was gaily illuminated, and many 
' groups of the sailors dancing on the deck, the 
chiefs were much pleased with the liveliness of the 
scene. After watching the dance of the seamen 
for a few minutes, Maddra, who to use a common 
phrase, was up to every thing, ran among them, 
seized one of the dancers by the shoulders, and 
pushing him on one side, took his place, and kept 
up the reel with the same spirit, and exactly in the 
same style and step as the sailors. The other 
dances were left off, the music played with double 
spirit, and the whole ship's company assembled 
round Maddra, cheering and clapping hands till the 
reel was over. The chiefs joined in the applause, 
not less surprised than we were at this singular 
fellow's skill; for his imitation of the sailors' 
21* 



246 



LOO-C'HOO. 



peculiar steps and gestures was as exact as it he 
had lived on board ship all his life. The officers 
and midshipmen then danced together, after which 
the chiefs, unasked, and with a sort of intuitive 
politeness, which rendered every thing they did 
appropriate, instantly stepped forward, and danced, 
as they had before done in the cabin, several times 
round the quarter-deck, to the unspeakable delight 
of the sailors. 

On returning to the cabin to tea. the chiefs amu- 
sed themselves with a sort of wrestling game ; 
Ookooma, who had seen us placing ourselves in 
sparring attitudes, threw himself suddenly into the 
boxer's position of defence, assuming at the same 
time a fierceness of look which we had never be- 
fore seen in any of them. The gentleman to 
whom he addressed himself happening to be a 
boxer, and thinking that Ookooma really wished 
to spar, prepared to indulge him with a round. 
Madeira's quick eye, however, saw what was going 
on, ano by a word or two made the chief instantly 
resume his wonted sedateness. We tried in vain 
to make Maddra explain what were the magical 
words which he had used ; but he seemed anxious 
to turn our thoughts from the subject, by saying, 
" Loo-Choo man no fight ; Loo-Choo man write, 
No fight, no good fight ; Ingerish very good ; 
Loo-Choo man no fight." Possibly he considered 
Ookooma was taking too great a liberty ; or per- 
haps he thought even the semblance of a battle 
inconsistent with the strict amity subsisting be- 
tween us. However this be, he showed clearly 
enough that he possessed authority over the senior 
chiefs. 

Before our guests left the ship, Captain Max- 



loo-choo. 247 

nvell, who had often remarked the satisfaction 
with which the natives received any attention shown 
to their children, ordered a large plum-cake, baked 
for the occasion, to be brought to hirn, which he 
divided into slices, proportioned to the numbers of 
the respective families of each of his friends. The 
chiefs were exactly in a fit mood to feel this 
kindness, and expressed themselves, as may be 
supposed, very warmly upon the occasion, wrap- 
ped up their portions of cake in their long sleeve- 
pockets, and went away singing, cheering, and 
waving their caps all the way to the shore. 

The early part of the next morning was spent at 
the Observatory. I afterwards walked in the coun- 
try, in company with one of my officers, without 
being observed ; for the chiefs had not yet reco- 
vered from the effects of last night's gaiety. We 
had not gone a mile, however, before Jeeroo over- 
took us. Our intention had been to gain the brow 
of a neighbouring hill, from whence we imagined 
there must be a good view of the palace and the 
neighbouring country ; but although Jeeroo was 
the most obliging creature in the world on every 
other occasion, he stoutly resisted our going be- 
yond the usual limits. We tried to overcome his 
objections by an assurance that we meant no harm, 
and would only go to the adjoining height. He 
would listen to no such promises, and as we still 
walked slowly on, sent off a messenger for assist- 
ance ; but before this reinforcement arrived, we 
had turned back, to the poor fellow's great relief. 
Although the particular object proposed had been 
frustrated, we succeeded in part by obtaining a 
nearer view of the palace. It was so much en- 
closed by trees, that parts of it only could be seen. 



248 



LOO-CHOO. 



but it was undoubtedly a very large building. On 
returning we met Hackibuco, puffing and blowing 
up the hill, having instantly set out to overtake us, 
on being told by Jeeroo's messenger what we were 
proposing to do. He had drank a good deal of 
wine the day before on board, and honestly con- 
fessed that he had been a little " weety," and that 
his head now ached very much. Shortly after he 
joined our party, as we were passing' near a village, 
two women at the turning of a road came unex- 
pectedly upon us from a cross path. They were 
talking so earnestly to one another that they per- 
ceived no one till within a few yards of us. Their 
alarm was then great ; and after pausing for a mo- 
ment in stupified astonishment, they threw down 
the baskets which they were carrying on their 
heads, and fled into the woods. Our two com- 
panions were mightily discomposed at this rencon- 
tre, and would listen to no reasoning upon the ab- 
surdity of their apprehensions, looking quite mise- 
rable till the interdicted subject was changed. We 
went afterwards to the high ground behind the hos- 
pital, in order to fill up by eye the edges of the 
reefs in our charts, for which regular triangles 
could not be taken in the survey. While I was 
thus engaged, Mr. Clifford endeavoured to learn 
from Jeeroo whether or not the king lived in the 
large house spoken of before ; as usual, he denied 
any personal knowledge of the king, and would 
neither say what the house was, nor tell who re- 
sided there. A peasant, however, who happened 
to be passing by, proved more communicative, and 
was cheerfully giving all the information we de- 
sired, when Jeeroo, observing what the country- 
man was about, reprimanded him sharply for his 



L00-CH00* 



249 



loquacity, and sent him off instantly. Beyond such 
a reproof as this, we never saw any punishment 
inflicted at Loo-Choo ; a tap with a fan, or an an- 
gry look, being the severest chastisement ever re- 
sorted to, at least as far as we ever saw or could 
hear about. In giving their orders, the chiefs were 
mild in manner and expression, though quite de- 
cided ; and the people always obeyed them with 
alacrity and cheerfulness. There seemed to exist 
the greatest respect and confidence on the one 
hand, which was met by correspondent considera- 
tion and kind feeling on the other. 

About noon of the same day, while Mrs. Loy,' 
the boatswain's wife, was employed at the well 
washing clothes, at a moment when everybody else 
happened to be out of the way, she was visited by 
a Loo-Chpo lady, accompanied by a numerous 
guard of men. She described her visiter as being 
about eighteen years of age, very richly dressed in 
blue silk robes, fair in complexion, with small dark 
eyes, and not without beauty ; her hair was of a 
glossy jet black, made up into a knot on one side 
of the head, w r ith a small white flower stuck in the 
midst of it. She wore a scarlet satin girdle tied 
in a lai;ge loop at the side, and on her feet, which 
were /6f the natural size, were laced, richly em- 
broidered sandals, shaped like those of the men. 
Mrs, Loy, with a laudable spirit of inquiry, wished 
to examine the particulars of this lady's dress ; but 
the timid stranger shrunk back from the foreign- 
er's touch. Indeed, Mrs. Loy, with her arms 
bare, and covered with soap-suds, though an excel- 
lent person in her way, was not exactly the indi- 
vidual example best calculated to represent the la- 
dies of England in foreign parts. 



250 



LOO-CHOO. 



On all occasions, when we met with natives of 
superior intelligence, we endeavoured as much as 
possible to procure some information respecting 
their literature, and the state of education and of 
knowledge in the country. Our means of com- 
munication were of course much circumscribed by 
our imperfect acquaintance with the language, and 
the interpreter, from his low station, had not the 
ideas, and consequently not the words, which we 
stood in need of in making these inquiries. Of 
this interesting subject, therefore, we could get but 
few satisfactory accounts ; the natives told us they 
had but few books in their own language, by far 
the greater number being Chinese. The young 
men of rank, it seems, are sometimes sent to Chi- 
na to be educated, and Jeeroo had been there 
when a boy. None, however, but the upper class- 
es understand the oral language of China, and the 
peasantry are in general ignorant both of the spo- 
ken and written Chinese languages. 

Whenever we were occupied in making astro- 
nomical observations, the natives retired a consi- 
derable distance, as they were told that the least 
motion disturbed the surface of the quicksilver, and 
prevented our taking observations. They had the 
most laudable patience, and sometimes sat still and 
silent for several hours together, till invited to 
come forward to look at the instruments. While 
we were making observations this morning, Ookoo- 
ma and Jeeroo, with their friends, came to the Ob- 
servatory, and we observed them to be in great 
distress. Upon our begging to know the cause, 
they explained that Captain Maxwell, during his 
ride, had fallen down, or rather that the horse, be- 
ing too weak for his weight, had fallen with him, 



LOO-CHOO. 



2oi 



and that his finger was broken. A Loo-Choo doc- 
tor, it appeared, had gone on board, who, they 
said, would soon effect a cure. We repaired im- 
mediately to the Alceste, where we found that the 
Loo-Choo surgeon had placed Captain Maxwell's 
broken finger in a thick paste made of eggs, flour, 
and some other substance which he brought along 
with him. He then wrapped the whole in the skin 
of a newly-killed fowl. The skin dried in a short 
time, and held the paste firm, by which means the 
broken finger was kept steady in its place. The 
doctor went through a number of ceremonies, 
such as feeling the pulse, and looking at the tongue ; 
being accompanied by an attendant, who carried 
under his arm a box filled with medicines. 

While Captain Maxwell was sitting in a shed 
after the accident, waiting for the boat to carry 
him on board, he was surprised to see a person 
enter the door on all fours, half dead with terror. 
This turned out to be the surgeon, who had been 
instantly sent for, and who, in common with the 
chiefs, was horror-struck at the accident. The 
Esculapius, however, soon recovered his compo- 
sure and confidence, on observing that although 
the finger was broken, and one of the joints dislo- 
cated, his patient was perfectly tranquil. 

A deputation of the chiefs went on board the 
Alceste early next morning, to announce that the 
Prince of the island, the person next in rank to 
the King, and heir-apparent to the throne, meant 
to come on board the frigate to pay a visit of. ce- 
remony, and to inquire after Captain Maxwell's 
health. Accordingly, at noon, four of the senior 
chiefs, dressed in their best state silks, and caps, 
came on board to announce the approach of the 



252 



LOO-CHOO. 



Prince, who, in about half an hour afterwards, we 
could observe through our glasses, was brought in 
a closed sedan-chair to his boat. A lane was then 
opened for him, through a vast concourse of peo- 
ple, to whom he seemed almost as rare a sight as 
to us. The state-boat, which was a large flat-bot- 
tomed barge, covered with an awning of dark-blue 
silk, with white stars on it, and not unlike a hearse 
in appearance, was preceded by t\vo other boats, 
bearing flags, with a long inscription upon each : 
in the bow stood an officer of justice, carrying a 
lackered bamboo, and in the stern a man beating 
a gong. A vast number of other boats were in at- 
tendance, some bearing presents, others following 
out of mere curiosity. One of the chiefs rowed 
forward to the frigate, to present the Prince's visit- 
ing-card to Captain Maxwell. It was made of 
red paper, forty-eight inches long, and eleven 
wide, with an inscription upon it, of which the fol- 
lowing is a translation : — " The great personage, 
Ko Heang, Extender of the Laws of Loo-Choo, 
bows his head, and worships." Shortly afterwards 
the Prince's barge approached ; upon which the 
rigging of both ships was manned, always a very 
striking ceremony, and a salute of seven guns fired. 
When he came on board, he was received with a 
guard, and another salute. Captain Maxwell, who 
had been confined to the cabin ever since his acci- 
dent, ordered me to receive the Prince, which I ac- 
cordingly did at the top of the accommodation ladder. 
As there had been no previous arrangement made re- 
specting the manner of his reception, I merely took 
off my hat and made him a bow ; but was surprised 
to see alllhe chiefs fall on their knees the instant 
he came on the quarter-deck. I took his hand 



LOO-CHOO. 



25o 



from one of the chiefs who had assisted him up the 
ladder, and conducted him to the cabin. 

The Prince, when seated beside Captain Max- 
well, made several anxious inquiries about his 
wounded hand, and expressed much regret that 
so disagreeable an accident should have occurred 
during his stay at Loo-Choo. He then called to 
one of his attendants for his pouch, and having pre- 
pared a pipe, presented it to Captain Maxwell. 
The usual questions as to our ages and families 
having passed, he expressed a wish to see the won- 
ders of the ship. Orders were accordingly given 
to prepare for his reception ; the decks were clear- 
ed, and the ship s company ranged in separate divi- 
sions. Meanwhile he expressed a wish to look 
round the cabin, and was very soon attracted by 
the globes, generally the first object that engaged 
the attention of the natives. He begged to be 
shown Injeery, (England) ; Loo-Choo ; Quan- 
toong (China) ; Niphon (Japan) ; Manilla, and 
Pekin. The chiefs who stood apart, would not 
sit down in his presence, and never spoke to him 
without kneeling, sometimes on one knee, gene- 
rally on both. As soon as the necessary arrange- 
ments had been made the Prince proceeded round 
the decks, He observed every thing with attention, 
but without betraying any great degree of curiosity. 
One of his earliest inquiries was about the boat- 
swain's wife, of whom he had heard from the chiefs, 
and asked if it were possible to see her. Nothing 
was easier than to gratify him in this wish, for the 
good lady had been long prepared, and was waiting 
in her gayest attire to be presented. He stood for 
a moment looking at her with an expression of 
pleased surprise ; after which, as if suddenly recol- 



^54 



LOO-CHOO, 



lecting that this must be somewhat embarrassing to 
the poor woman, who stood curtseying to the very 
ground, he drew his fan from his breast, and with 
an air of the utmost politeness, held it to her and 
begged she would accept it. Mrs. Loy again 
curtsied in acknowledgment of the honour in- 
tended her, and the Prince sent her the fan by 
Maddra. 

Some confused account of the fire-engine having 
been communicated to him, he asked to see it 
worked. In less than a minute a dozen of the 
firemen, with their buckets full of water, were at. 
his side, the engine filled, and a stream of water 
spouted over the lower mast-heads, to his infinite 
astonishment and delight. He had heard also of 
an African negro who was on board, and begged 
that he might be sent for. When this man, who 
was a fine specimen of his race, was brought for- 
ward, the Prince looked exceedingly surprised, 
and probably doubted whether or not the colour 
was natural, as one of his people was sent to rub 
poor blackee's skin with a cloth. The guns, the 
shot, and above all, the iron cables, excited his 
closest attention : nothing, indeed, escaped his 
scrutiny. Wherever he passed, the natives, who 
had flocked on board in crowds, fell on their knees, 
and clasping their hands before their breasts bowed 
their heads till they nearly touched the deck. 

On returning from this excursion, the Prince was 
invited to a cold collation prepared for him in the 
foremost cabin, though for a long time he refused 
to sit down, nor could we conjecture what was his 
objection. At length, however, he complied, while 
the chiefs, who it appeared were neither allowed 
to sit down nor to eat in his presence, retired to 



LOO-CIIOO. 



2oo 



the after-cabin*; but he insisted on Captain Max- 
well and me being seated. He tasted every dish 
which was offered him, but seemed afraid of the 
wines, having probably heard enough of the jovial 
proceedings of the 19th. In about half an hour he 
rose and went to the' after-cabin ; upon which the 
chiefs and the people of his suite, to the number 
of fifteen, took their places at the table which the 
Prince had left, and speedily made ample amends 
for the temperance and moderation of his royal 
highness. 

When this party returned to the after-cabin, 
the official business of the day, for none of these 
visits ever passed off without some formal diplo- 
matical conference, was entered upon by Captain 
Maxwell's returning thanks, in the name of the 
English government, for the liberal manner in 
which his Majesty's ships had been supplied with 
every kind of refreshment ; and for the kind as- 
sistance rendered us in all other respects. The 
Prince replied that the King of Loo-Choo was 
most anxious to do everything in his power for 
the King of England's ships. Upon this Captain 
Maxwell observed, that being fully persuaded of 
this he was very desirous of seeing his Majesty, 
for the purpose of expressing in person his grati- 
tude for the kindness with which he had been re- 
ceived in this country. The Prince answered, that 
it was quite contrary to the laws and customs of 
Loo-Choo for any foreigner of whatever rank to be 
admitted to the King's presence unless expressly 
sent by his own sovereign, as the bearer of com- 
plimentary presents. 

Such a declaration, coming from authority so 
high, was considered by Captain Maxwell as con- 



LOO-CHOG. 



elusive ; and as nothing farther could now with 
any propriety or delicacy be said on the subject, 
the hope of opening a communication with the 
court, which had been so anxiously desired, was at 
last reluctantly given up. The Prince, however, 
most unexpectedly, in a few minutes resumed the 
subject, by saying that an official letter would be 
written to the King of England, if Captain Max- 
well would undertake to deliver it ; his answer of 
course was that nothing would give him more sa- 
tisfaction than being made the bearer of such a 
communication : that although he had earnestly 
desired the honour of paying his respects to his 
Majesty the King of Loo-Choo, yet from the mo- 
ment he heard it was contrary to the customs of 
the country, he had ceased to conceive himself en- 
titled to such an honour. As soon as it was in- 
terpreted that Captain Maxwell was willing to car- 
ry the letter alluded to, and that he had finally re- 
linquished his desire to see the King, the Prince 
rose and pressed Captain Maxwell's hand between 
his, while all the chiefs fell on their knees in a cir- 
cle round him, showing by the expression of their 
countenances, how great their anxiety had been, 
from which they were at once relieved by Captain 
Maxwell's judicious acquiescence with their wish- 
es : the Prince, in particular, who had looked full 
of anxiety during this discussion, became in a mo- 
ment quite cheerful and at his ease. 

But wiien the Prince again alluded to the letter, 
it appeared that although it was to be addressed to 
the King, it was to be written by the minister, and 
not by the King of the Island. This altered the 
case materially, and the diplomatists were once 
more at sea. Captain Maxwell said it was his 



LOO-CHOO. 



257 



duty to inform the Prince most respectfully, that 
such a letter could not, with propriety, be received^ 
as it would be an indignity to his own Sovereign to 
present him with a letter written by another king's 
minister. The Prince seemed sensible of the pro- 
priety of this view of the case the moment it was 
stated ; and calling the chiefs round him, entered 
into one of their longest discussions ; at the close 
of which, they declared themselves incompetent to 
decide upon so very weighty a matter, but that the 
Prince would consult with the King, whose plea- 
sure would be communicated in a few days. Cap- 
tain Maxwell expressed his willingness to abide by 
his Majesty's decision, as far as it was consistent 
with the respect due to his own government. The 
Prince seemed entirely satisfied with this answer, 
and said something to the chiefs, upon which they 
again fell upon their knees before Captain Max- 
well, notwithstanding all his efforts to prevent 
them. 

In the early part of this curious interview the 
present which the Prince had brought was display- 
ed in the cabin, at least such parts of it as were 
capable of being thus exhibited. The whole con- 
sisted of two bullocks, three hogs, three goats, and 
a quantity of vegetables, fruit, oranges, charcoal, 
eggs and sweet potatoes ; besides fifteen webs of 
the cloth of the island, thirty fans, and twelve 
pipes. The Prince said he had sent a present to 
me, which I found to consist of half the above- 
mentioned good things. 

While the Prince was looking over the books 
and other things in the cabin, a picture" of his Ma- 
jesty King George the Third was shown to him. 
As the interpreter happened not to be present, we 
22* 



253 



LOO-CHOO. 



could not immediately explain who it was intended 
to represent, till it occurred to us to join our hands 
together, and bow to the picture in the Loo-Choo 
manner : the Prince, with the characteristic readi- 
ness of his country, saw instantly what was meant, 
and turning towards the picture, made it a low and 
respectful obeisance. 

His suite consisted of several chiefs whom we 
had not seen before, besides six personal attend- 
ants, two of wiiom always stood behind to fan 
him and to light his pipe. These men, who from 
their dress and manner appeared to be merely ser- 
vants, derived a sort of rank from being about the 
Prince's person ; for when the chiefs sat down 
to table after he had left it, these attendants stood 
by as if expecting to be invited to sit down also ; 
but Mr. Clifford, to whom Captain Maxwell had 
given the party in charge, having observed how 
particular the Loo Chooans were with respect to 
distinctions of rank, conceived it would be impro- 
per to ask them to be seated, even when Jeema 
requested him to do so. Suspecting there was 
some mistake, he applied to Maddra, who said it 
was perfectly correct, upon which they were invited 
to sit down along with the rest. 

We had never succeeded in obtaining from the 
natives any satisfactory account of former visiters ; 
but as the Prince was thought a likely person to be 
in possession of the desired information, we were 
in great hopes of hearing what we wanted from 
him, and various questions were put to him upon 
the subject. He said a vessel belonging to some 
strange nation had been here about twenty years 
ago ; but that she had gone away immediately, 
without holding any communication with the court. 



.LOO-CHOO. 



259 



This must have been the Pandora schooner, in 
which Captain Broughton visited Napakiang in 
July, 1797, after he had been wrecked in his Ma- 
jesty's ship Providence, on the island of Typinsan. 
He said that he knew of no other stranger who 
had visited Loo-Choo. On being sounded as to 
his knowledge of other countries, he declared he 
knew nothing of the people whom we called 
French or English, or any nation indeed but the 
Chinese, Corean, arid Japanese. Something was 
said about Manilla, and as that country is not very 
remote, it is possible that an accidental communi- 
cation may have occurred between it and Loo- 
Choo. Their accounts, however, were all vague 
and unsatisfactory, and it is not impossible that we 
ourselves may have first suggested these names, 
and afterwards ascribed their use to the natives, a 
natural and frequent source of error on such oc- 
casions. 

In Captain Broughton's Voyage, book II., an 
account is given of his visit to Napakiang. He 
was received with great kindness by the inhabit- 
ants, who supplied his wants, but objected to his 
landing, and sent back to the schooner some of the 
officers who had been sent on shore to examine 
the town. We found Captain Broughton's ac- 
count of the people quite accurate. 

Nothing, however, in the adventures of this day 
excited such universal interest as Maddra's full 
and explicit assumption of his long-concealed rank. 
He came on board for the first time dressed in the 
robes and hatchee-matchee of a chief ; and instead 
of keeping in the back-ground as heretofore, like 
one of the common people, he not only took pre- 
cedence of our old friends, but during the discus- 



260 



LOO-CHOO, 



sions in the cabin with the Prince, maintained in 
every respect a decided superiority over them all. 
It was very remarkable, too, that while the others 
were discomposed by the Prince's presence, and 
were seen crouching on their knees every time 
they ventured to address him, Madeira, though 
always respectful, was quite at his ease, and nei- 
ther in listening to, nor addressing thp Prince showed 
the least embarrassment : we could not, therefore, 
help fancying that he must have been accustomed 
to the society of the palace. It was no less remark- 
able, that the Prince referred much oftener to him 
than to any of the chiefs, and always listened to him 
with far greater attention than to any one else. Whe- 
ther Maddra owed such distinction to his elevated 
rank, or to the ascendency of his talents and at- 
tainments, or to the accidental circumstance of his 
having had better opportunities of knowing our 
language and customs than any other of the na- 
tives, we could not pretend to determine : but 
he admitted, when interrogated upon the subject, 
that he had in fact often seen the Prince before, 
While all the other chiefs confessed to us, that until 
to-day they had not known him even by sight. 

No sooner w r as the Prince fairly placed in his 
sedan chair, and lifted out of his boat by his peo- 
ple, than Maddra came on board, and entered 
with great good-humour into the jokes which w r ere 
poured upon him from all sides upon the subject 
of his newly found character. He declined tell- 
ing why he had kept his rank so long a secret, 
but it was sufficiently obvious that his main object 
had been to establish an intimacy with all the dif- 
ferent classes on board the ships. In this he com- 
pletely succeeded ; for he had advanced gradually 



L00-CH00. 



26i 



in his acquaintance, first with the sailors, then the 
midshipmen, next with the officers, and last of all 
with the captains. By this means he gained the 
confidence and good will of each class as he went 
along, and by rising in consequence every day, 
instead of putting forward all his claims at once, 
acquired not only substantial importance with us, 
but gained a much more intimate knowledge of 
our character and customs than he could have 
hoped to do in any other way. Our opinion of the 
other chiefs fluctuated from day to day ; whereas 
our esteem for Maddra never suffered diminution. 
With a sort of intuitive and happy discretion, he 
always did what the event proved to be the most 
appropriate thing he could have done: and by 
iaying claim to no knowledge or merit which he did 
not possess, but always keeping more in the back 
ground than his friends thought there was occasion 
for, he was sure never to forfeit any good opinion 
which he had once gained. 

Next day Mr. Clifford went along with me, for 
the purpose of sketching the bridge, which, though 
not above three hundred yards from the landing- 
place, the chiefs had always objected to our ex- 
amining. We took Jeeroo with us without telling 
him our object, which he no sooner discovered than 
he became quite alarmed, and sent off for Maddra, 
who came to us immediately, and upon learning 
that nothing farther was proposed than a mere ex- 
amination of the structure of the arch, said we 
might go on ; having first made us promise solemn- 
ly not to proceed a step farther. While Maddra 
was entering into this bargain with us, and making 
minute and as I thought needless stipulations, I 
expressed some impatience at his doubting our 



262 



LOO-CHOOv 



simple declaration that nothing more was intended 
than what we actually avowed : he smiled good- 
humouredly, but said he must do his duty ; nor 
would he leave us till the matter was arranged in 
his own way. As soon as he was satisfied on this 
point, he said something to Jeeroo, and left us ; but 
turning back again in a few minutes, he came up 
to Mr. Clifford, and pointing to me, whispered, 
" Captain no sulky ?" meaning, no doubt, to ex- 
press his apprehension that I had been angry at the 
conditions so positively required of us. Mr. Clif- 
ford, having assured him that nothing could pos- 
sibly make me sulky with so obliging and good 
a friend, detained him for a moment to ask him 
what it was he feared ? what he had seen in us 
to excite such constant dread of our going near 
the town ? Me replied, 4i Loo-Choo woman see 
Ingeree man; Loo-Choo woman cry ! ? ' He then 
left us ; and Jeeroo, who remained in a boat close 
to the bridge while we w r ere employed in measu- 
ring and drawing it, was highly interested by our ac- 
counts of the great age of our venerable Sovereign, 
and of the number of his family, circumstances 
Avhich excited his astonishment and admiration, 
He talked quite freely w hile the topic was the King 
of England, but the instant the slightest turn in the 
conversation was made towards the King of Loo- 
Choo, our friend, communicative enough in every 
other point, became impenetrable upon this. " He 
did not know," he said " how old he was, nor 
how many children he had in short, he seemed 
scarcely to admit that he had ever before heard of 
the King of his own country. From Maddra, 
however, who had no concealments, w r e learnt af- 
terwards, that the King was an old man, with seven 



LOO-CHOO. 



263 



children. It was absurd enough that none of the 
chiefs would inform Captain Maxwell whether or 
not the Prince who visited the ships yesterday had 
any children. 

Jeeroo, who was a merry light-hearted fellow, 
sung several songs to us during this excursion, and 
told us that his countrymen were very fond of mu- 
sic ; but gave us no satisfactory information re- 
specting musical instruments : neither did we ever 
see any. The natives almost all sung, and we heard 
several very sweet and plaintive airs. They had 
also many jovial drinking songs with noisy chorus- 
es, one of which was written down from Jeeroo's 
dictation, inscribed on a drinking-cup which he pre* 
sented to me. It is as follows ;— 

" Tywacku tawshu, shee kackufing, 
" Chaw-ung, itchee shaw, sbooha neebura : 
44 Ting shi, you jjyee, chi taru shu ninnee 
"Noobu cadsee mecsee carra shaw jeeroo 
" Shing eoodee sackee oochi noo shing," 

The characters on the cup being interpreted, sig- 
nify, "Tywacku, being inspired by a jar of wine, 
wrote an hundred pages of verses without end. 
At the market town of Chaw-ung he entered a 
wine shop to sleep. The Emperor happening to 
summon him at this moment, he, in his haste to 
obey the mandate, forgot to put on his upper gar- 
ment, and rushing into the royal presence, ex- 
claimed, c Here am I, the wine-loving immortal V " 

On the 25th of October, being the anniversary 
of his Majesty's accession to the throne, the ships 
were dressed in colours, and a royal salute fired. 
This splendid exhibition of flags and streamers, 
a beautiful sight at any time, if seen from a short 



LOO-CHOO. 



distance, produced a great effect upon the natives, 
who had never seen any other flags than a single 
ensign hoisted on Sundays, on board each of the 
ships. They had been previously informed that 
there would be certain ceremonies in honour of 
our King on this day. and great numbers of people 
had been assembled from all parts of the island to 
witness the show. As this morning had also been 
fixed upon for returning the Prince's visit, we left 
the Alceste at one o'clock, forming a procession 
of four boats, each bearing flags Captain Max- 
well was accompanied by twelve of his officers and 
young gentlemen, and six sent along with me from 
the Lyra, all dressed in full uniform. We entered 
the harbour, and landed at the same part of the 
causeway as before, where we found the chiefs in 
attendance, as on the occasion of our visit on the 
23d of last month. 

The Prince advanced a few yards on the outside 
of the gate, and having taken Captain Maxwell's 
hand, conducted him to the temple, where an inge- 
nious device was adopted in order not to infringe 
the etiquette, which requires that none but persons 
of high rank shall be seated in presence of the 
Blood Royal. The temple, as I have before de- 
scribed, was divided into several rooms by ranges 
of columns, capable of being connected at pleasure 
by moveable partitions. When these pannels were 
removed there still appeared to be three separate 
apartments, or at least there was separation enough 
to save the Prince's official dignity, while, at the 
same time, no person in the other rooms could feel 
himself excluded, since the division by the pillars 
might be considered merely nominal. The feast 
was sumptuous, consisting of twelve regular cour- 



LGO-CHOO. 



265 



S63, besides tea and sackee at short intervals, 
There were many dishes new to us, principally of 
meat, dressed in various ways in large bowls. 

It having been thought necessary to make some 
return for the presents brought on board by the 
Prince two days before, Captain Maxwell begged 
his acceptance of several pieces of scarlet and blue 
cloth, as well as samples of every species of our 
manufacture, that could be scraped together, from 
the finest damask to the coarsest sail canvass ; with 
a very handsome set of cut crystal decanters and 
glasses, and three dozen of wine of different sorts, 
with several books, and a number of smaller arti- 
cles. He also requested the Prince to offer the 
King of Loo-Choo, in his name, a cow and a bull 
calf of the best English breed, as a humble offering 
of his sense of the kindness which we had all ex- 
perienced. The Prince expressed much satisfac- 
tion at this gift, saying that the calf being born in 
the country, had become a great favourite with the 
natives, and he had no doubt would prove in time 
of essential benefit to the Island. My present 
consisted of half the quantity of wine given by 
Captain Maxwell, a mirror taken from a dressing 
stand, samples of English pens, ink, and paper, all 
of which differ totally from those we met with 
on the Island, an atlas, and a small brass sextant ; 
which latter present I was induced to include 
from having often witnessed the wonder and de- 
light it had invariably excited at the observatory. 
Mr. John Maxwell, the commodore's son, to whom 
the Prince had sent a present of cloth and pipes, 
gave him a spy-glass and a map of London ; the 
map was coloured, and round the edges were the 
palaces, Greenwich Hospital, and other public 

m 



266 



LOOCHOO. 



buildings, all of which were examined with great 
attention. After his highness had looked over 
most of the things, and satisfied himself with the 
explanations given, he rose and said that a great 
deal too much had been given ; to which we re- 
plied, that a great deal too little had been given, 
and that these things were not offered as being, in 
any respect, an equivalent for the supplies sent on 
board, but merely as marks of our gratitude for the 
great kindness and attention with which we had 
been received. 

The following is a list of the supplies which we 
received at Loo-Choo, and for which the natives 
could not be prevailed upon to accept any sort of 
payment. 

List of Articles supplied at Loo-Choo. 





Alceste. Lyra. 


Bullocks, 


19 


8 


Pigs, 


23 


10 


Goats, ..... 


15 


7 


Fowls, . . . 


216 


102 


Fish, . . • . 


29 


12 


Eggs, 

Bags of sweet potatoes, 


920 


455 


59 


27 


Squashes, , 


34 


14 


Jars of sackee, each containing 






about fifteen gallons, 


6 


3 


Baskets of oranges, 


9 


4 


Bundles of gingerbread, 


8 


3 


onions, . 


16 


8 


» — radishes, 


30 


12 


celery, 


12 


5 


garlick, 


8 


4 


candles, 


i 


3 



LOO-GHOO. 



£67 



Alceste. Lyra. 



Bundles of wood, 

— charcoal, 

Pumpkins, . 



16 8 

20 15 

60 30 

7 3 

£ 1 

14 7 

6 3 

50 30 



Baskets of vermicelli, 
Boxes of sugar, . 



Rolls of printed linen, 
Bundles of paper, 



Pipes finely japanned, 



During the time we sat at table to-day, the in- 
terpreter was hardly ever called in, as Maddra and 
Mr. Clifford contrived between them to explain 
every thing, if not as clearly as could have been 
wished, yet we conceived in a more satisfactory 
manner than could have been done through the 
medium of John the Chinaman, of whose fidelity 
we were never certain, and of whose discretion, 
taste, and delicacy in conveying our sentiments, 
we had many doubts. 

The Prince, as soon as dinner was over, rose 
and proposed the King of England's health, which 
was accordingly drunk in a full cup of sackee. In 
return, we gave the King of Loo-Choo. As the 
surgeon had desired Captain Maxwell, on account 
of his accident, to drink no wine, we were very 
temperate at the Prince's table ; but at the others 
every art was used to circulate the wine-pot. Lit- 
tle persuasion, it is true, was required, for the 
sackee, though not strong, was very good ; resem- 
bling, in some degree, weak punch. Ookooma 
presided at the table occupied by the officers, and 
Jeeroo at that where the midshipmen sat. One of 
the chiefs having remarked on board, that when- 
ever the King's health was drunk, whether of Eng- 
land, or of Loo-Choo, the cups were always fairly 



268 



LOO-CHOO. 



emptied, took advantage of this loyalty of senti- 
ment, and gave " The King of Injeree's health''* 
three or four times over, to which, of course, the 
officers were obliged to reply, by giving " The 
King of Loo-Choo" as often. Finding this ma- 
noeuvre to answer so well, he carried it rather far- 
ther than is customary with us on similar occa- 
sions, for, observing the company somewhat back- 
ward in discussing a mess of sweet rice -meal por- 
ridge, which had been placed before each of them, 
he stood up with his bowl in his hand, and, calling 
out "King of Injeree's health!" swallowed the 
whole, and invited the rest of the company to fol- 
low his loyal example. 

The Prince seemed to enjoy the noise and mirth 
of the other tables very much ; and he himself was 
more cheerful and conversible than when we first 
saw him, though naturally a silent man. Ookooma, 
by acting his part as toastmaster, got, we thought, 
a little tipsy ; for he came several times into the 
state-chamber, where he talked a great deal louder 
than was quite suitable to the occasion ; an indis- 
cretion of which the good-natured Prince took no 
notice. When Ookooma came near my chair, I 
whispered to him, u Ya weetee," — You are drunk ; 
he turned round, and, affecting to be angry, called 
out, " Weetee nang!" — I am not! but his voice 
and manner were in direct contradiction to this 
assertion. His subsequent behaviour, however, 
when the feast was over, was so orderly, that pro- 
bably he only pretended to be tipsy, in order to 
suit what he might consider to be the convivial hu- 
mour of the moment. 

On rising to depart, the Prince led Captain Max- 
well by the hand, not only through the gate of the 



LGO-CHOO. 



269 



temple, but about twenty yards farther, along the 
causeway : here he stopped and took leave. Cap- 
tain Maxwell availed himself of this public oppor- 
tunity to repeat, for the last time, his sincere thanks, 
in the name of the English government, for the nu- 
merous attentions and marks of kindness with 
which he had been honoured at Loo- C boo. He 
requested that these sentiments might be commu- 
nicated officially to the King, and assured the 
Prince, in the most earnest and respectful manner, 
that all the circumstances of our reception and en- 
tertainment should be stated to his own Sovereign. 
Upon this assurance, the Prince bowed in a man- 
ner which seemed to express much satisfaction at 
the promise. Captain Maxwell next observed, 
that he felt, individually, so greatly honoured and 
obliged by the particular attention which had been 
shown to himself, and to the captain of the little 
ship, that he hoped the Prince would deign to ac- 
cept from each of us a small mark of his respect 
and gratitude. He then took from his neck a small 
thermometer, set in silver, and presented it to the 
Prince, who leaned his head forward, and request- 
ed that it might be hung round his neck by Cap- 
tain Maxwell's own hands. 

This may be supposed a curious place to hang 
a thermometer, but we had learned during our in- 
tercourse with the chiefs, that some management 
of this kind was necessary whenever it was intend- 
ed to offer them presents, as their extreme delicacy 
made them unwilling to accept anything of value, 
lest it might appear in the light of remuneration 
for their hospitality. But whenever anything 
merely ornamental, or of little value, was offered, 
particularlv if worn about the person, no objection 
23* 



£70 



LOO-CHOO. 



was made. It thus became the practice, as the 
most convenient method, to tie the proposed gift 
by a ribbon round the neck ; so that after a time, 
every one wore rings, seals, or other trinkets, ready 
for such occasions. This thermometer was select- 
ed as a present for the Prince, from its having par- 
ticularly attracted his notice on board the Alceste. 
After Captain Maxwell had given his little present, 
the Prince turned to receive mine ; upon which I 
put over his neck a cornelian seal, suspended by a 
ribbon, in the manner described. He was so de- 
lighted with these compliments, that instead of 
turning back, as strict etiquette probably required, 
he again took Captain Maxwell's hand, and led 
him along the whole length of the causeway through 
the crowd to the boat. He then stepped upon the 
top of the parapet to see us row away. 

As soon as we had put off, Captain Maxwell 
ordered the boats to assemble, and that every one 
should stand up, and give three hearty cheers. 
Never was an order more promptly obeyed ; while 
the Prince and the people looked quite amazed at 
this novel mode of bidding adieu, but they all seem- 
ed pleased and bowed several times, with their 
hands closed and raised to their breasts. The na- 
tives, who up to this moment had observed nothing 
on board the ships but the utmost order and 
silence, were quite confounded with this unexpect- 
ed uproar. The Prince remained on the parapet, 
and continued waving his fan to us as we rowed 
down the harbour, as long as we could see him. 
The chiefs ran to the end of the causeway, where 
they continued, surrounded by a vast crowd of na- 
tives, waving their handkerchiefs and fans till we 
were far from the shore ; and on every side, the 



LOO-CHOO, 



211 



rocks, trees, houses, and boats, were crowded with 
people cheering us in the same manner as we went 
along. This brilliant scene had less novelty in it, 
to be sure, than the display which we had witness- 
ed at the same place on the twenty-third of last 
month ; but it was even more pleasing on this oc- 
casion, for we had now become acquainted with 
many of the individuals forming the assemblage, 
and felt assured that their expressions of kindness 
and respect were sincere. At our first visit, the 
natives being ignorant of our intentions, were 
greatly alarmed at our appearance ; and accord- 
ingly, though much curiosity was shown, a pro- 
found silence and stillness prevailed over the whole 
crowd, very different from the friendly shouts and 
signs with which they greeted us as we passed 
among them to-day. 

Precautions had been taken to prevent the ladies 
from indulging their curiosity as they had done on 
the former occasion, not a single female face be- 
ing anywhere discernible among this great multi- 
tude, probably the majority of the male inhabitants 
of the island. 

Of the population of Loo-Choo we could never 
learn anything having the least pretensions to ac- 
curacy. From the south point, to within five or 
six miles north of Napakiang, an extent of six- 
teen or eighteen miles, the country is highly cul- 
tivated, and almost entirely covered with houses, 
All round Port Melville too there are populous 
villages, but the north, north-east, and eastern dis- 
tricts are thinly peopled, and not cultivated to any 
extent. We saw nothing like poverty or distress 
of any kind ; every one we met seeming content- 
ed and happy. Not-a single deformed person, nor 



272 



LOO-OHOO. 



any one who bore indications of disease, was seen, 
except a few marked with the smallpox. 

As soon as it became dark both the Alceste and 
Lyra were illuminated ; and at nine o'clock, after 
a royal salute and a feu de joie had been fired, a 
number of fire- works were let off from the yard- 
arms. An immense concourse of the natives, who 
had been apprised of our intentions, assembled on 
the shore, highly delighted with this brilliant exhi- 
bition. 

The sick people, as well as the stores belonging 
to the Alceste, were removed on board on the 
morning of the 26th of October, and every prepa- 
ration made for our departure. While employed 
in concluding the last series of observations, Mad- 
dra joined us, having in his hand the sextant which 
I had given to the Prince the day before. It seems 
he had received orders to make himself acquainted 
with its use ; but a more hopeless enterprise, un- 
der such circumstances, could hardly have been 
proposed. Maddra, however, was not a person to 
be daunted by difficulties ; on the contrary, he 
resolutely persevered in trying to make observa- 
tions with the sextant ; and the more the difficul- 
ties were made apparent, the more arduously he 
laboured to overcome them. The progress which 
he made in a few hours in the mere practical ope- 
ration of taking angles and altitudes was really 
surprising, but he was by no means satisfied with 
this degree of proficiency, and entreated to be 
taught how to apply it to some practical and useful 
purpose. I endeavoured to confine him to one 
subject, merely to ascertain the time of apparent 
noon ; and I think succeeded in explaining to him 
how this was to be done. But I found it difficult 



LOO-CIIGO. 



273 



to fix him, for he broke off from his work repeat- 
edly to express his regret at our approaching de- 
parture : in which friendly sentiment he was 
heartily joined by some of the chiefs, who came 
to us quite out of spirits. Jeeroo, poor fellow, 
while his companion Maddra was learning practi- 
cal astronomy, had prepared a handsome dinner 
for us under a tree near the observatory, to which 
farewell feast he invited us when our observations 
were concluded, and made us drink what he called 
" wackarittee," or the parting cup, several times 
over 

An unusual number of visiters came to the ob- 
servatory to-day, who stood by and saw the instru- 
ments packed up, and sent off, with looks of real 
regret. They all expressed themselves very sorry 
we were going away so soon. One man brought 
Mr. Clifford, as a farewell gift, a curious drawing 
of the Alceste, as she appeared on the twenty-fifth, 
dressed in flags, executed he said by his son. All 
our little favourites too, the children, were much af- 
fected by our preparations ; and the wonted hilari- 
ty of the lower classes was quite gone. 

Having taken our final leave of the shore, w r e 
went to the Alceste, where we found the chiefs in 
mournful conference with Captain Maxwell about 
his departure. Before they went, he made each of 
them a present of a finely-cut wine-glass, which 
he fancied they had long desired to possess ; but 
to Ookooma, as the principal person, he gave a 
richly-cut tumbler, enclosed in a red morocco case. 
This was much beyond his expectations, and per- 
haps his wishes, for he observed the wine glasses 
of the others with a wistful eye. Captain Max- 
well, perceiving in a moment that his friend had set 



274 



LOO-CHOO. 



his heart upon a wine glass also, opened the case, 
and pretending that it had been accidentally omit- 
ted, placed one inside the tumbler, to the chiefs 
great satisfaction. Soon afterwards the whole 
party went on shore, saying, before they left the 
ship, that in the morning the Bodzes would come 
on board in order to perform some sacrifice. But 
as they never made their appearance, it is probable 
the interpreter misunderstood them, particularly as 
Isacha Sandoo said in his own language, u To- 
morrow the ships will go, and all the Loo-Choo 
people will pray for them;" which was probably 
all that the chiefs meant, although the interpreter 
said the priests were to come on board during the 
next day. 

While we were at dinner, Maddra came into the 
Alceste's cabin, for the purpose of asking me some 
questions about the sextant. He was not aware 
of our being at dinner, and looked quite shocked 
at having intruded ; of course he was invited to sit 
down, but no entreaties could prevail upon him to 
do so ; being determined to show that his coming 
at this moment was accidental. From the cabin 
he went to the gun-room, to see his friend Mr. 
Hoppner, the junior lieutenant of the Alceste, 
with whom he had formed a great friendship, and 
who gave him a picture of the Alceste and some 
other farewell presents ; upon which Maddra, who 
was much affected, said, " To-morrow ship go sea 
— I go my father house, — two days distance : — 
when I see my father, I show him your present, and 
I tell him, Henry Hoppner all same as my brother," 
and burst into tears ! 

The officer here spoken of, is now w T ell know r n 
to the public, as one of the intrepid and persevering 



L00-CH00. 



275 



navigators, who have four times engaged in the 
formidable enterprise of discovering a north- 
west passage. 

At daybreak on Sunday, the 27th of October 
1816, we unmoored ; upon which the natives see- 
ing us take up one of our anchors, naturally 
thought we were going to sea immediately, and 
meant to give them the slip without bidding adieu. 
This was very far from our intention ; but the 
alarm spread immediately, and brought the chiefs 
off in a great hurry ; not in a body, in their ordi- 
nary formal way, but one by one, as they could 
find separate canoes to paddle them from the shore. 
Old Jeema called on board the Lyra on his way to 
the frigate ; he was a good deal agitated, and the 
tears came into his eyes when I drew a ring from 
my finger and placed it on his, in exchange for a 
knife, which he took from his girdle to present to 
me. 

The other chiefs called alongside on their way to 
the frigate, but they went on when I told them I 
was just going to the Alceste myself. In the mean- 
time poor Maddra came on board with the sextant 
in his hand ; he was in such distress that he scarce- 
ly knew what he was about. In this distracted 
state he sat down to breakfast with us, during 
which he continued lighting his pipe and smoking 
as fast as he could ; instinctively drinking and eat- 
ing whatever was placed before him. In a little 
while he recovered his composure in some degree, 
and asked what books it would be necessary for 
him to read, in order to understand the use 
of the sextant ; I gave him a nautical alma- 
nack, and told him he must understand that in the 
first instance ; he opened it, and attentively look- 



276 



LOO-CHOO. 



ing at the rows of figures for a few minutes, held 
up his hands in absolute despair, being at last for- 
ced to confess it a hopeless business ; he then put 
the sextant into its case, and bade us farewell. 
Before leaving the Lyra, he gave Mr. Clifford his 
pipe and tobacco pouch, with a crystal ornament 
attached to it, saying, as he held them out, " You 
go Ingeree, you give this to your childs." Mr. 
Clifford gave him a few presents in return, and ex- 
pressed his anxiety to be always remembered as 
his friend. Maddra, with great earnestness, and 
"with the tears streaming down his cheeks, placed 
his hand several times upon his heart, and cried, 
;i Eedooshee, eedooshee !" — My friend, my friend ! 

To me he gave a fan, and a large picture of a 
man looking up at the sun, drawn, he said, by him- 
self, probably in allusion to my usual occupation 
at the observatory. After he put off in his boat, 
he stood up and called out several times, " Ingery 
noo choo sibitty yootusha," — I shall always re- 
member the English people. When he went to 
the Alceste, one of the chiefs remarked to him, 
that he had come on board without his hatchee- 
matchee, or his state-robes, and told him it was 
not respectful to wait upon Captain \Maxw T ell for 
the last time, in his ordinary dress ; particularly as 
all the others were in full array. Maddra, who, 
poor fellow, had been too much concerned about 
other matters to think of dress, was distressed at 
this apparent neglect of propriety, and immediately 
apologized to Captain Maxwell, who took him kind- 
ly by the hand, and, giving him a present, told him, 
he was always much too happy to see him to no- 
tice what dress he had on. 

On going to the Alceste. I found the chiefs seat- 



LOO-CHOO. 



277 



ed in the cabin, all looking very disconsolate. We 
tried in vain to engage them in conversation ; but 
their wonted cheerfulness had quite deserted them : 
and, indeed, it was natural that they should be so 
affected, for, unlike their visiters, these simple 
people could have had little experience of parting 
scenes. 

I took this opportunity of giving each of the 
chiefs some trinket, as a farewell present, and they 
in return gave me their pipes, fans, and knives, as 
memorials, accompanied by many friendly expres- 
sions. Mutual assurances then passed between us, 
of being long remembered, and the natives rose to 
take their last leave of us. Ookooma, who, as 
well as the others, was much agitated, endeavour- 
ed to say something, but his heart was full, and 
he could not utter a word. The rest did not at- 
tempt to speak ; and before they reached their 
boats, they w r ere all in tears. Maddra, who was 
the last to quit the ship, cried bitterly as he wrung 
the hands of his numerous friends, who crowded 
round him, and loaded him with presents. 

While we were heaving up the anchor, the na- 
tives assembled not only in canoes round the ships, 
but in vast crowds along the neighbouring heights ; 
and as we sailed away, they all stood up, and con- 
tinued waving their fans and handkerchiefs till they 
could no longer be distinguished. 



278 



CANTON. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CAPTAIN MAXWELL'S ATTACK ON THE BATTERIES AT 
CANTON, ON THE 1 2TH OF NOVEMBER, 1816. 

On leaving our primitive and kind friends at Loo- 
Choo, we steered directly across ,the Japan sea, 
and having sailed between the Philippine Islands 
and Formosa, made directly for the anchorage of 
Lintin, which takes its name from an island lying 
opposite the mouth of the great river flowing past 
Canton. On the 3d of November, 1816, shortly 
after anchoring, we received despatches from the 
British Factory, announcing the unsuccessful is- 
sue of the Embassy, and the expected return of 
Lord Amherst. The failure of the mission, it ap- 
peared, had disposed the Chinese authorities at 
Canton to treat the interests of the British Facto- 
ry with great contempt, and in several instances to 
visit his Majesty's peaceable subjects with insult 
and direct injury. Next morning was received a 
copy of a recent edict, or proclamation, of the 
Viceroy of Canton : in this document, worded in 
the most offensive terms, it was stated that the 
Ambassador would not be permitted to embark in 
the river, but must find his way as he best could 
to the ships, which were to remain at anchor 
among the Ladrone Islands, almost in the open 
sea. There was every reason for supposing that 
this insulting mandate was a gratuitous piece of 
impertinence on the part of the local authorities, 
not authorized by the Supreme Government. In 
China every thing is regulated by custom ; and the 
precedent of the embassy under Lord Macartney 



CANTON. 



279 



was more likely to be adhered to, than that so in- 
convenient and degrading a mode of embarkation 
should be wantonly assigned to Lord Amherst. 
The hostile sentiments of the Viceroy tovvards all 
foreigners, and especially the English had long 
been well known to our establishment at Canton ; 
and as these proceedings were precisely what had 
been anticipated, the greatest anxiety was felt by 
our countrymen, and indeed by all the foreign resi- 
dents, as to the line of conduct which Captain 
Maxwell would adopt on the occasion. 

Nothing could be conceived more dissimilar to 
our recent occupations than the duties which now 
devolved upon this officer. Instead of the pacific, 
timid, hospitable Loo-Chooans, he had to deal with 
the arbitrary and unsociable military authorities of 
China, at no time very friendly, and at the present 
moment professedly hostile to his nation. The 
same deliberate good sense, however, carried him 
successfully through these diametrically opposite 
services, and what in one instance took the cha- 
racter of patient forbearance, became in the other 
the most prompt and vigorous action. Both lines 
of conduct were so admirably suited to the occa- 
sions respectively, that had their order been reversed, 
as they might readily enough have been by a less 
judicious officer, the consequences must have been 
mischievous in the highest degree. It should not 
be forgotten, that as neither our visit to Loo-Choo, 
nor the discussions with the Chinese, could have 
been anticipated, no specific instructions before- 
hand could by any possibility have been given for 
the performance of these services. The most per- 
plexing dilemmas, indeed, must often occur in a 
profession, the extent of whose range is only limit- 



CAWTOJfc. 



ed by that of the globe itself. But it is on such 
occasions that the distinction between one officer 
and another comes into play : that the man who 
dreads and shuns responsibility, or whose shoul- 
ders are not broad enough to bear it when it hap- 
pens to fall on them, is crushed beneath the weight ; 
while the professional genius of another will sport 
with the difficulty, and like Nelson, turn what to 
ordinary eyes seems irreparable disorder into the 
means of enhancing his country's honour. 

Shortly after the ships had come to an anchor 
off Lintin, a Mandarin, in command of a fleet of 
war junks, came on board the Alceste. He said 
a pilot would be soon sent, together with the usual 
permit, or Chop, as it is called, sanctioning the 
entry of the ships into the river. But on the 7th, 
three days afterwards, a Mandarin of much higher 
rank came to the frigate, expressly directed, he 
said, by the Viceroy, to order us to remain where 
we were, and on no account presume to approach 
nearer the river's mouth. Captain Maxwell ex- 
pressed great surprise at this rude message, and 
argued the question the more earnestly, as this 
Mandarin said he was in confidential communica- 
tion with the Viceroy, and authorized by him to 
make arrangements. It was in vain represented, 
that the proceeding alluded to would be highly in- 
decorous, not only on account of the inconveni- 
ence and difficulty of communicating with the 
ships anchored so far off: but being directly in the 
teeth of an established precedent in the case of 
Lord Macartney, such a line of conduct would be 
a palpable insult to the present Ambassador. 

It is material to mention that an edict of the 
Emperor had been published some time before, in 



CANTON. 



281 



which it was specified that the present Embassy 
was to be treated in every respect exactly as the 
former had been : and Captain Maxwell conceived 
it improbable that the Emperor would recall his 
own orders in this essential particular, when he 
had scrupulously adhered to them in every other. 
The Mandarin, however, shook his head at all 
these arguments, as if quite unconvinced ; but he 
was too well-bred to give the only good reply — 
that the proposed measure was actually intended 
as an insult. Captain Maxwell, however, who 
saw this clearly, gave him to understand, that what- 
ever the Viceroy, or even the Emperor himself, 
might be disposed to do, he was determined not to 
permit any such indignity to pass with impunity. 
The Mandarin, struck with this manner of viewing 
the case, stoutly denied any disposition on the 
part of Government, to slight the Ambassador, 
but repeated that express orders had come from 
Pekin to forbid the entry of the ships. 

The whole of this interview was interesting and 
curious in a very high degree ; for it was evidently 
a sort of experiment on the part of the Chinese to 
discover what manner of man they had to deal 
with ; and Captain Maxwell, who had an important 
duty to fulfil, may be supposed to have been feel- 
ing his way likewise, and endeavouring to discover 
to what lengths fair words would reach, and how 
far, in the event of the worst, it might be necessa- 
ry to bring the argument within the range of can- 
non-shot. It was as fair a diplomatical skirmish, 
therefore, as could be, and to a spectator like my- 
self, amusing beyond description. The conversa- 
tion was carried on principally through the medium 
of a Chinese interpreter, or linguist ; but the 
24* 



CAjVFOST. 



Mandarin himself also understood some English, 
and more than once showed, by the expression of 
his countenance, that he knew what was meant, 
even before the interpreter had time to render the 
words. When Captain Maxwell asked how it 
happened that the commander of the fleet, who 
had visited him on the 3d instant, l]ad undertaken 
to procure pilots, Chops, and so on, if not duly 
authorised ? " Oh," replied the Viceroy's envoy, 
M that officer happens to be partly a fool, and partly 
a wit ; he was acting the latter character when he 
came to you, and merely -wished to make sport ; 
he was only quizzing, I assure you, and had no 
authority." — " Well," said Captain Maxwell in 
reply, " it may be very well for such a fellow to 
take these liberties ; but," added he, in a tone and 
manner which made the Mandarin's buttons wag 
on the top of his bonnet, t; I advise his Excellency 
the Viceroy not to take example from his admiral, 
and attempt to pass any such humours on me!" Our 
Chinese diplomatists exchanged expressive glances, 
and for some time all was allowed to go on smooth- 
ly. The next experiment w r hich the Mandarin 
tried on Captain Maxwell's temper related to what 
is called in China a Security-merchant, a term 
which requires a little explanation. 

Every foreign ship which goes to Canton for the 
purpose of trading is obliged, before commencing 
business, to have a high bond or security for good 
behaviour lodged by one of the great dealers in 
tea, known by the title of Hong merchants. In 
the event of any disturbance occurring on board 
that ship, or any breach of the laws and customs 
of the country being committed by her officers or 
crew, the unhappy Security-merchant has to pay 



CANTON. 



the penalty— sometimes in the shape of a large 
fine of hard dollars to the Viceroy, and sometimes 
in the less expensive shape of a round dozen or 
two with the bamboo, inflicted in a manner which, 

I were the sufferer an European, would be the most 
hurtful possible to his feelings and dignity, but 

| which in China, where it is said there is not much 
honour to be tarnished, goes merely for so much 
drubbing ; and the poor Hong merchant limps on 

| board next day, with tears in his eyes, to supplicate 

| his indiscreet constituents to behave better in fu- 
ture, if not in consideration of their own interest, 

! at least in compassion to his poor bones. 

As men-of-war, however, have nothing to do 

I with the commerce of the port ; as none, indeed, 
had ever entered the river before, except the ships 
of Lord Macartney's embassy, the idea of a Secu- 
rity-merchant for a king's ship had never been 

I dreamed of till this occasion. The Mandarin, not 
duly warned by the tone and manner of Captain 
Maxwell's first reply about the facetious admiral, 
or more probably being misled by his uncommon 
gentleness of manner, said it was the intention 
of the Viceroy not to allow the ships to remain 
longer, even at their present anchorage, unless 
they procured a Hong merchant forthwith to an- 
swer for their good behaviour. " What is it you 
mean ?" said Captain Maxwell, warming a little ; 
"let me hear that again, if you please." The 
Chinese, not altogether at his ease, repeated that 
security must immediately be lodged for the good 
behaviour of the ships. u Are you aware," said 
Captain Maxwell, u that this is a ship of war — 
King George the Third of England's frigate the 
Alceste?" — "I did not distinctly understand," 



284 



CANTON* 



stammered out the Mandarin, who saw too late 
that he was in a scrape, and knew riot for his life 
how to get out of it ; " I wished to be better in- 
formed — I wished merely to learn from you what 
cargo you brought — what kind of goods to dispose 
of." — u Cargo ! — goods to dispose of!" exclaimed 
Captain Maxwell, rising and striking the table with 
his clenched hand, in admirably feigned anger — 
" Cargo, did you say ! — powder and shot, sir, are 
the cargo of a British man-of-war ! Did you see 
his Majesty's pendant flying at the mast-head ? 
If you did not, I desire you will take a good look 
at it on your way to Canton, where you may tell 
the Viceroy you have seen a flag that has never yet 
been dishonoured — and please God, while it waves 
over my head, it never shall!" 

When Captain Maxwell began this address, the 
Mandarin opened his eyes, and stared amazedly at 
him ; then rose half off his seat, and presently with 
his hands shaking, as if the cold fit of an ague had 
overtaken him, doffed his cap of office, and gave a 
glance over his shoulder towards the stern windows, 
to see whether, in extremity, he had any chance of 
making his escape. As Captain Maxwell approach- 
ed his climax about the flag, and struck the table a 
second time, the Mandarin and interpreter both re- 
treated, step by step, as far as the sides of the 
cabin permitted them, where they stood with up- 
lifted hands, quite aghast, and in an ecstacy of terror. 
It was with the utmost difficulty I kept my counte- 
nance, for I knew, by a slight and almost imper- 
ceptible smile at the corner of his mouth, that 
Captain Maxwell himself, so far from having given 
way to passion, was not only perfectly cool, but 
was enjoying, to the very top of his bent, the con- 



CANTON. 



286 



sternation into which he had thrown the Viceroy's 
deputy and his attendant. 

Matters, however, were soon apparently read- 
justed, by Captain Maxwell's ringing the bell, and 
ordering some cherry brandy, which the terrified 
Mandarin relished vastly more than the gunpowder 
speeches he had just been treated with ; and I 
could see him more than once cast a side glance 
to the racks suspended under the guns, each hold- 
ing a dozen of twenty-four pound shot. 

A desultory conversation ensued, during which 
all official business was sedulously avoided for a 
time ; but Captain Maxwell, whose object was to 
be fully understood, would not allow the unhappy 
worshipper of Fo to leave the ship without some- 
thing so explicit, that even the acuteness of Chi- 
nese diplomacy should not be able to evade or mis- 
construe it. He accordingly resumed the subject 
by asking the Mandarin, now he was aware what 
the frigate's cargo consisted of, whether he thought 
the Viceroy would grant the proper Chop. u I 
have no sort of doubt of it," he replied eagerly ; 
" and if you will only consent to wait till the twen- 
ty-third day of the moon, four days hence, you may 
rely upon it that a free permission, a grand Chop 
of the first order, will be sent to you, together with 
pilots, refreshments, and all you require." — " Be 
it so," said Captain Maxwell ; " I am the last 
man in the world to do any thing in a hurry — I 
have not the least wish to do what is offensive or 
contrary to the usages of any country. But under- 
stand me, once for all ; I am perfectly resolved 
that neither the Ambassador, nor the flag of my 
nation, shall be insulted in the manner alluded to 
In the Viceroy's communication ; and if, on or be* 



286 



CANTON. 



fore the twenty-third day of the moon, a free per- 
mission to enter the river does not arrive, I most 
certainly shall proceed in this ship without it : and 
shall not stop till I have reached the spot occupied 
by his Britannic Majesty's ships employed on the 
former embassy. You regulate all things in this 
Celestial Empire of yours by precedent, you tell 
me, and it shall go hard but I will'furnish you with 
one that will serve you for many years to come." 
The Mandarin thus schooled was in a great hurry 
to be off, and carrying with him the linguist as a 
witness to bear him out in the strange story he had 
to tell, made all sail towards the city. 

We had a good laugh over the conference when 
the Chinese had gone away : but I was anxious to 
know what Captain Maxwell really meant to do in 
the event of no Chop coming from the Viceroy. 
He told me he had no expectation that any per- 
mission would come : and from what he had heard 
and seen, was satisfied that the Viceroy was re- 
solved to carry matters to the utmost, feeling con- 
fident that his insolence would be tamely submitted 
to as it had heretofore been, on almost all occasions, 
even after positive threats had been used. He 
added, that for his part he did not mean to use any 
threats, but to act. and if no Chop came on the 
11th of this month, which corresponded with the 
23d of the moon, to proceed straight up the river. 
A well-established precedent was before him in 
the case of the Lion, Lord Macartney's ship, which 
was permitted to go as high as Wampoa. the station 
where the China ships take in their cargoes ; and 
in proportion to the advantage supposed to be 
gained upon that occasion, he considered the loss 
would now be great if this point were to be given 



CANTON. 



287 



up. He observed, also, that if he waited for the 
Ambassador's arrival and instructions, it would 
imply a doubt as to the validity of the right ; but 
as he had no doubt, and meant to admit of none, 
there was no reason why, in the event of a refusal, 
it should not be enforced. Besides, were the 
measure to be delayed till Lord Amherst should 
reach Canton, it would throw the whole burthen 
of responsibility on his Lordship, already abundant- 
ly loaded ; on the other hand, by taking it entirely 
upon himself, the Ambassador would be left more 
free, and his dignity much better maintained, than 
if an altercation with the Viceroy were prepared 
for him. From all we yet knew, the Embassy had 
failed, and was returning in a manner sufficiently 
humiliating, without additional dishonour. And 
Captain Maxwell thought, that if he sailed reso- 
lutely up, and took the station which, according to 
precedent he was entitled to claim, such a step 
might show the Chinese, that however we might 
have failed in obtaining farther advantages, the 
English nation was in no humour to relinquish 
those which it already possessed. Such being his 
feelings and views on the occasion, he prepared to 
carry them into execution without delay. 

It must be allowed by all parties, if, indeed, there 
can be two opinions on the subject, that whether 
the resolution adopted was right or wrong, prudent 
or otherwise, it evinced a high degree of political 
courage : since, if the Viceroy's orders to deny ad- 
mission to his Majesty's ships had really been derived 
from the Court, a serious national quarrel, or the 
stoppage of the tea trade at least, would have been 
the inevitable consequence. Besides which, the 
Ambassador, and many other British subjects, 



288 



CANTON, 



were completely in the power of the Chinese, and 
there was no knowing to what risk their lives might 
be exposed, if the government were roused to take 
summary revenge, for what they might consider 
an outrage. No doubt, all these considerations 
had their weight ; but when carefully balanced, 
they were not found to shake the original plan, 
deliberately formed for resisting this attempt to de- 
grade the national character. 

The twenty-third day of the moon came accord- 
ingly , without any reply from the Viceroy : neither 
pilot nor Chop making its appearance. The Lyra 
in the meantime was despatched for provisions to 
the Portuguese settlement of Macao, in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood. But Captain Maxwell wish- 
ing to give ample time, and above all unwilling to 
do anything precipitate, waited four and twenty 
hours later than the day specified ; at the end of 
which period, on the 12th of November, he weigh- 
ed and proceeded to Chuen Pee, an anchorage a 
few miles below the narrow entrance called the 
Bogue, or Mouth, the Boca of the Portuguese 
navigators. Here a fleet consisting of seventeen 
large men-of-war junks, each mounting from four 
to six guns, with a compliment of sixty men, was 
drawn up in line of battle to oppose the farther 
progress of the frigate. The numerous batteries 
along shore were also observed to be filled with 
men : indeed the whole scene indicated a resolu- 
tion of resisting the intention of the strangers to 
pass the prescribed limits. A small boat, or as it 
is called a Sanpan, was now seen to put off from 
the admiral's junk and make towards the frigate. 
This boat was rowed by a single old woman, which 
ridiculous circumstance, though not uncommon in 



CANTON. £89 

the upper parts of the river, was certainly now in- 
tended as an additional indignity. On her coming 
alongside, the same interpreter who had accompa- 
nied the Mandarin at the memorable interview of 
the 7th, made his appearance on the quarterdeck, 
along which he strode with an air of much greater 
confidence than he had shown in the cabin a few 
days before. He was the bearer of an order as he 
expressed it, from the commander-in-chief of the 
Emperor's war junks, for the frigate to anchor in- 
stantly. Captain Maxwell, whom nothing could irri- 
tate or discompose, answered this impertinent man- 
date by jocularly asking in the broken English used 
by the interpreter, " Suppose no do — what then ?" 
" Then, I thinkee," retorted the linguist, with a very 
significant wink of his small red eye, — u I thinkee 
that my great Mandarin there sinkee your ship l" 
And sure enough, while they were still in conver- 
sation, the admiral fired first one gun, then another, 
and so on along the whole line. Although these 
guns were all shotted, Captain Maxwell, with good 
humour and presence of mind, called out that he 
was greatly obliged to the admiral for his salute, 
and ordered three guns to be fired with powder 
only, in return for the compliment, but continued 
his course onwards under all sail. The Mandarin 
soon put this mistake to rights by firing more shot, 
in which example he was followed by the whole 
fleet. Their guns were worked with considerable 
spirit and rapidity ; but somehow or other, not only 
the admiral, but all the officers under his orders, 
managed never to strike the frigate, or even to fire 
directly over her, taking care to pitch their shot 
either just ahead or just astern. It is not fair, 
perhaps, to insinuate what motives influenced this 
25 



290 



CANTON. 



gallant officer on the occasion ; it was sufficient 
for Captain Maxwell's purpose that no shot actu- 
ally hit his ship, and he sailed on without taking 
the smallest notice of the uncivil cannonading in 
his rear. 

When the frigate had reached nearly to the 
Bogue, or entrance, and almost within range of the 
battery called Annanhoy, the light wind which had 
carried her so far, gradually died away, and the 
tide, setting strongly out, rendered it necessary to 
drop the anchor. The Chinese fleet brought up 
likewise, but continued firing away as briskly as 
before. Captain Maxwell, whose attention had 
hitherto been occupied by piloting the frigate, was 
now at leisure to attend to the warlike admiral. 
He accordingly loaded one of the quarterdeck 
guns, a two and thirty pound carronade, and having 
directed it and primed the lock all with his own 
hands, drew the trigger himself. The gun was 
aimed so that the shot should pass over the centre 
of the commander-in-chief's junk. The efFect was 
instantaneous, and most ludicrous ; the crews, not 
only of this vessel, but of the whole line, fell flat 
on their faces, as Captain Maxwell described it in 
his letter to me, u like Persians at sunrise," while 
the admiral in person was seen for a moment actu- 
ally in the air, into which he had leaped in the 
extremity of his amaze, and in the next instant he 
lay prostrate on the deck. So remarkable was this 
exhibition, that Captain Maxwell at first feared he 
had pointed the gun too low, and actually killed 
the poor Mandarin ; while the sailors, who were in 
ecstacies with the sight, exclaimed that the captain 
had shot away the China admiral's head. Without 



CANTON. 



291 



any such serious issue, the effect was quite as com- 
plete, for the firing instantly ceased. 

It is an invariable rule in China, whenever a 
casualty happens in consequence of guns fired from 
any foreign ships, to insist upon the man who ac- 
tually fired the gun being given up, not the officer 
who gave the order ; as if the guilt rested with the 
mere agent, rather than with the chief at whose in- 
stigation he has acted. Captain Maxwell was 
therefore determined, at all events, to simplify the 
present question, by loading and firing the first 
gun with his own hand, and thus to make himself, 
in every sense of the word, Chinese as well as Eu- 
ropean, the responsible person. This incident may 
perhaps appear a trifle to some persons, but it was 
one strictly in character with the whole of these 
proceedings ; and the anecdote is worthy of being 
borne in the recollection of every officer in com- 
mand, who, as he shares all, or nearly all the credit 
of successful enterprize, should be ready to take 
upon himself the whole weight of censure, should 
the consequences be disastrous. 

About half past eight o'clock of the same even- 
ing a breeze sprung up, which admitted of the ship 
steering through the Bogue. The anchor was in- 
stantly weighed ; but so vigilant were the Chinese, 
that the topsails were hardly sheeted home before 
a flight of rockets, and a signal gun from the fleet, 
announced that night or day the passage was to be 
disputed. In the next instant there was a simul- 
taneous flash of light from one end to the other of 
the batteries, on both sides of the river sky-rockets 
were thrown up in every direction, and all the em- 
brasures were illuminated in the most brilliant man- 
ner. " The boatswain's pipe," to use Captain 



292 



CANTON. 



Maxwell's own expression, u did not man the Al- 
ceste's guns more smartly than these signals did the 
Chinese batteries. The very first shot they fired,' 3 
to continue the extract from a letter I received 
some days afterwards, u hit us very hard in the 
bows, and pretty low down ; the second cut away 
one of the mizen-shrouds, and went through the 
spanker ; in short, they went on remarkably well. 
It really put us quite in mind of old times again. 
My orders were that not a shot should be fired un- 
til one was heard from the quarter-deck, the trig- 
ger of which I pulled myself when within less than 
half-musket shot of Annanhoy, the battery at the 
Bogue ; and then the main-deck and forecastle 
very speedily put out all the John Chinaman's 
lights. It really was a very fine and spirited scene 
while it lasted. 

" But the best effect of the whole is," continues 
Captain Maxwell, " tiiat the Viceroy has quite re- 
covered his good breeding, and become remarka- 
bly civil. A Mandarin of much higher rank than 
our former visitor was sent down to where the ship 
had anchored in the river, after passing the batte- 
ries, to say that I might come as far as I pleased ; 
that the Lyra might also enter the river when I 
pleased ; all boats might pass and repass the Bogue 
when I pleased ; in short every thing is to be done 
according to my pleasure ; and, what is amusing 
enough, a Chop, or edict, has been published in 
Canton, stating that the Alceste had entered and 
come up the river by the Viceroy's express permis- 
sion, in the same manner as the ships of the former 
embassy." 

Thus far Captain Maxwell ; but I cannot omit 
relating two characteristic traits of this officer, of 



OANTON. 



£9o 



which he has omitted all mention himself. At the 
time of passing through the Bogue, and after the 
first broadside from the frigate had been poured 
into the battery, but while some of the guns still 
continued firing at the ship, the greater number of 
the Chinese who had not been knocked over by 
the Alceste's fire, scampered off to the right and 
left up the hill, each with a paper lantern in his 
hand, thus affording a conspicuous mark for the 
small arms. Captain Maxwell, however, jumped 
on the poop, and would not allow a single musket 
to be fired ; remarking that his purpose was to 
effect a passage by silencing the great guns, and 
that if he could avoid it not a single Chinese should 
be hurt. 

The other anecdote is equally in character. On 
the morning after the ship had passed the batte- 
ries, and reached the intended anchorage, Captain 
Maxwell ordered his gig, a small four-oared boat, 
to be manned ; and without taking arms, or making 
any previous stipulations for his own safety, rowed 
straight up to Canton, a distance of more than thirty 
miles from his ship. The news of the action had 
preceded his arrival, and immense multitudes were 
assembled to see the officer who had destroyed 
those fortresses considered by the whole empire 
as impregnable. He was received on the wharf 
by the members of the British Factory with al- 
most equal admiration. " Gentlemen," said he, 
" I have felt it my duty to take a step of great im- 
portance, and one which may perhaps seriously 
involve not only the Ambassador and his suite, 
but all of you ; and as I am the person principally 
concerned, I have come here to share the risk what- 
ever it may prove." The crowd as he walked 
25* * 



CANTON. 



along fell back in as much amaze as if a tiger from 
the woods had sprung among them, but towards 
evening they were all dispersed, and the danger 
which, had he shrunk from facing it. would have 
been imminent, was entirely at an end. 

While Captain Maxwell was thus busily em- 
ployed, I had proceeded by his orders on the 7th 
November to a harbour called the Typa, within a 
mile or two of Macao. Early next morning a 
large Chinese war vessel, mounting seven guns 
and crowded with people, anchored about a quar- 
ter of a mile to the eastward of us. All eyes were 
turned to this new and strange sight, for we had 
not before seen any junk nearly so large ; but 
while we were engaged in examining her more 
minutely, another still larger dropped anchor un- 
der our stern : presently another took his station 
on the bow. and one on the quarter, till in the 
course of half an hour we found ourselves fairly 
encaged by these immense vessels. One very 
zealous officer among them took a birth rather 
too close as I thought, as he brought up actually 
within the Lyra's buoy. So great a departure from 
professional etiquette I imagined must be intended 
as a prelude In something hostile, and I prepared 
my little ship for the contest. We had only ten 
guns, indeed, but these were thirty-two pound car- 
ronades. and we might. I dare say, have done very 
well on the occasion of coming to blows, unless, 
indeed, it had occurred to the Chinese to have sail- 
ed their immense castles one on each side of us, in 
which case the poor Lyra must have been crushed 
like an egg-shell. For the smallest of these junks 
could not have been less than four or five times 
our tonnage, and at least three times as high out 



CANTON. 



295 



of the water. As soon as the guns were shotted, 
I sent my boat to the junk which had anchored so 
close as almost to be touching us, to beg he would 
move a little farther off. The officer of my boat 
found a linguist on board, to whom he readily ex- 
plained the impropriety of anchoring so near ; and 
I confess I was not sorry to observe my friend 
comply so readily, and get his anchor up again to 
take his station along with the rest of the fleet. It 
was soon apparent they intended us no immediate 
mischief, but were sent to watch us, and I suppose 
to keep us in awe ; for every morning and evening, 
at sunrise and sunset, there was a grand muster- 
ing on board each junk ; all the crews were dis- 
played on the decks, and a furious beating of gongs 
set up, which was doubtless meant to be very ter- 
rific and impressive, 

We took no farther notice, but proceeded with 
our re-equipment, till on the 1 5th of November, 
accounts reached Macao that Captain Maxwell 
had been engaged with the batteries, and had 
afterwards sailed up the river. I was on shore at 
Macao at the time the news arrived, but went on 
board instantly to see what part the Chinese fleet 
would take, not knowing how far it might suit the 
admiral's ideas of the service, to visit the sins of 
the frigate upon the sloop of war. But to my sur- 
prise I beheld them all getting under weigh in the 
utmost hurry and confusion, as if the pigmy Lyra 
was going to swallow these giants up ; and without 
waiting for order of battle, or any order at all, ran 
off as hard as they could scamper out of oilr reach, 
into the inner harbour of Macao, where they 
crowded themselves together like sheep, and moor- 
ed in a compact body, actually touching one an- 
other. 



296 



CASTOR. 



As I knew nothing of the Alceste's proceedings, 
except through the reports of the Chinese and Por- 
tuguese, which varied every hour, I resolved to wait 
Captain Maxwell's farther instructions. It was a 
week before I heard from him, and my orders then 
were to proceed up the river, to where the Alceste 
lay, and not to return the fire of the batteries, should 
they recommence hostilities, but, in that case to 
anchor below the Bogue, until I was joined by the 
frigate. In order to avoid all mistakes, or misun- 
derstandings, he also sent me positive directions to 
avoid all intercourse with the Chinese, whatever ad- 
vances might be made by the commanders of the 
forts or fleets. In pursuance of these directions, I 
tripped my anchor on the 25th, and sailed out of 
the Typa ; but the tides not being favourable, we 
were obliged to force our way through the mud, and 
at one place actually sailed for upwards of half a 
league in two feet less water, by the sounding line, 
than the ship drew : that is to say, we appeared to 
be in ten feet water, while the vessel drew twelve. 
The moment our sails were set, we observed a stir 
among the men-of-war junks, and in a little while 
they came out one by one. As the wind was against 
us, we had to make a tack towards the harbour's 
mouth, where we were met by the whole eight sail 
of the line, gaily dressed out in long shallow-tailed 
streamers, and led by their gallant commodore, who 
carried a flag twice as large as any of the rest. At 
sunset it fell calm, and the tide having turned, we 
ail anchored together, no one of the junks being 
above a cable's length, or two hundred yards from 
the brig. As soon as the sails were furled, the 
commodore manned his barge, and came himself 
to pay the Lyra a visit. I should have been very 



CANTiON. 



297 



glad to have received him, but Captain Maxwell's 
orders against any intercourse being explicit, I 
could do nothing but decline his civility, and keep 
him off. In spite of all I could do, however, he 
rowed alongside, and sent an officer up with his 
card. This personage who forced his way on board 
addressed me in these words, " I come to see about 
your pigeon." — " My pigeon," said I ; " I have 
no pigeons on board, and you must go away — I 
cannot receive you — go down the side, if you 
please." — " No ! no," exclaimed he, by way of 
clearing up the mystery, "my master, this great 
Mandarin," pointing to his chief, " has come to see 
about the ship's pigeon." While I was puzzling 
over this speech, I observed the commodore and 
two ior three of his attendants climbing on board 
the biig, and therefore called out to some of the 
sailors, \ u Here, my lads, put this gentleman into 
his boanagain." In an instant a couple of strap- 
ping felliws, who liked no better sport, leaped up, 
and \vould have tumbled the poor Chinese over the 
gangway in a trice, had I not caught their arms. 
The interpreter, seeing what was going to happen, 
made a wise and precipitate retreat, dragging the 
commander-in-chief along with him by the tail, and 
screaming to the boatmen to shove off. 

I was really extremely sorry to be guilty of such 
rudeness ; but my orders being imperative, I had 
no other way of resisting such determined intru- 
sion, but that of threatening to throw the foremost 
of my visiters overboard. I was glad it was not 
the chief himself who led the way, as I must have 
used some equally uncivil arguments with him, 
which I confess would have been a monstrous 
breach of naval etiquette. 



298 



CANTON. 



I afterwards learned that the word u pigeon,'* 
in the strange jargon which is spoken at Canton by 
way of English, means business, so that what the 
linguist meant to say was, u I am come to see 
about your business " It is, perhaps, not generally 
known that all transactions between foreigners, of 
whatever nation, are carried on here in a singular 
dialect, called English, but which is scarcely in- 
telligible at first, even to an Englishman, and must 
be totally unintelligible to every other foreigner. 
It is made up of English, Portuguese, and Chinese, 
and although barbarous in the highest degree, must 
be studied by every trader at the port. Until very 
lately, all business was transacted by the British 
Factory in this most absurd language. Of late 
years, however, the Company's servants at Canton 
have made themselves acquainted both with the 
written and spoken Chinese, and every thing ma- 
terial now passes in the language of the country. 
The natives themselves, whose principle it is to 
discourage all assimilation, sometimes lament this 
newly-acquired power of communicating, and look 
back with regret to the times when the supercar- 
goes drank a great deal of wine, and spoke not a 
word of their language. "Now," as I heard one 
of the Hong merchants say, with a sigh and a 
shake of the head, " the English speak Chinese as 
well as I do, and drink nothing but water." 

As soon as the tide served next morning, after 
daybreak, we weighed, in company with the fleet, 
and continued all day beating to windward. For 
some time these vessels held very good way with 
us, but when the breeze freshened we left them 
to leeward, though not by any means so fast as we 
had been led to expect we should have done. 



CARTON. 



299 



During the day we often crossed one another, on 
opposite tacks, sometimes to windward, sometimes 
to leeward, and often so close as almost to touch, 
making a very amusing and spirited sailing match. 

As the night closed in I let go my anchor, not 
being willing to incur the risk of running upon the 
shoals. The Chinese commodore and two of his 
next best sailers were just in sight at sunset, far to 
leeward, but being well acquainted with the river 
they had no occasion to anchor, and before mid- 
night, they were once more clustered round their 
little charge. We were now at Chuen Pee where 
Captain Maxwell had anchored previous to enter- 
ing the Bogue, and I could observe from the lights 
in the batteries, and an occasional rocket, that the 
garrison were no less upon the alert than they had 
been upon that occasion. 

By the first peep of dawn next morning we were 
again under weigh, and about breakfast-time steer- 
ed for the narrow neck, or Bogue, the scene of ac- 
tion on the 13th. The flags were hoisted at all the 
signal-posts, and the batteries every where crowded 
with people. I went as close as possible to Annan- 
hoy, in order to see what damage had been done. 
Thirty-nine pieces of cannon were counted, none 
of them less than twenty-four pounders, and all 
within five or six feet of the level of the water ; 
and so judiciously arranged, that if properly served, 
they might repulse a considerable force. The face 
of the wall, blown down by the Alceste's broad- 
side, had been built up again, and the Chinese must 
have worked night and day to conceal their disas- 
ter. From the new appearance, however, of the 
works, and the marks of shot on the steep face of 
the rock immediately behind the guns, I shouJd 



300 



think that most, if not all the guns must have been 
dismounted, and the einbrazures beaten together. 
As the Alceste passed considerably within her own 
length of the battery, and the water was perfectly 
smooth, every shot must have told. 

We were greeted very differently ; for as we 
passed, a boat with four large skulls, and dressed 
up with long streamers reaching to, the water, came 
from the fort with an officer, who hailed us, and 
said he was sent by the governor to ask if we want- 
ed a pilot, or any other assistance. But he did not 
come close alongside, having probably heard from 
the admiral, whose boat we saw lying at the sally- 
port of the battery, that we were not very civil to 
our visiters. I hesitated a moment whether or not 
I should take a pilot, but upon considering the 
matter a little, declined his offer, and he rowed 
back again, after making the most respectful sa- 
lams as he took his leave. I refused this offer not 
only from feeling confident that we could do with- 
out assistance, but also because I thought it likely 
that Captain Maxwell, who had himself taken the 
frigate up, might wish to demonstrate to the Chi- 
nese, that we could do without them in this matter ; 
a circumstance, we learned afterwards, which 
caused almost as much surprise at Canton as the 
passage of the batteries. There was, however, no 
mystery in the case, as an admirable chart of the 
river had been constructed shortly before this pe- 
riod, by Captain Daniel Ross, a gentleman to 
whom the navigators of every nation, whose busi- 
ness leads them to the eastern seas, are indebted 
in the highest degree. 

The East India Company have the sole merit, 
Tnd a very high one it is. of having originated the 



CANTON. 



301 



splendid idea of surveying in a scientific manner, 
not only the vast seas and coasts of China, but all 
the straits, bays, and islands in the Indian Ocean 
and Malay Archipelago. This work, perhaps the 
most useful, and certainly the greatest of its kind 
that any nation ever undertook, has been steadily 
carried on at an enormous expense for many years, 
under every circumstance of peace or war. To 
many persons this language may seem too strong ; 
but I write without exaggeration, at the dictation 
of feelings which most people will be ready to 
make allowance for. In an open sea, in broad 
daylight, and in fine weather, nothing can be more 
delightful than sailing along on such a voyage as 
ours to visit strange countries. But when the 
scene is changed to a dark stormy night, in narrow 
rocky passages, w 7 ith rapid tides sweeping through 
them, the blessing of such charts as those of Cap- 
tain Ross, and such directions as those of Hors- 
! burgh, is felt in a manner that the u gentlemen of 
England, who live at home at ease," can form but 
a faint conception of. 

The flood tide was now making, and we were 
carried gently past the various batteries on both 
sides of the river, every one of which sent off a 
boat to offer us any assistance we might require : 
but I declined all their offers. At noon it fell 
almost calm, but the water being perfectly smooth, 
the brig still had steerage way, and I sent the 
people to dinner, thinking we should not require 
them to perform any evolution before one o'clock. 
The last drain of the flood was now stealing along, 
and the river seemed like a bowl filled up to the 
brim. The banks were low and swampy, without 
trees or houses, or any definite landmark, by which 
26 



302 



our precise place could be told. Every thing look- 
ed so perfectly placid, that I dreamed of no danger, 
after having already navigated by the chart, for 
thirty or forty miles through a succession of intri- 
cate and dangerous shoals. I was thus lulled into 
an undue degree of security, and permitted the 
tide to drift the brig silently and imperceptibly 
towards the eastern bank of this immense river. 
While I was standing on the poop, endeavouring, 
if possible, to catch some object on the monoto- 
nous flat shore, by which the vessel's progress might 
be indicated, a small Chinese boat glided slowly up 
Tinder the quarter, as if to watch our motions. I 
took no notice of the boatman, who, however, after 
lying in the same spot for five minutes, stood up, 
and said in English, " Don't you want a pilot ?" I 
said, wi Oh, no — I know the river as well as you 
do. I want no pilot." The man shrugged his 
shoulders and sat down again. It now wanted only 
ten minutes of one. but I was unwilling to disturb 
the people at their meal, although I began to sus- 
pect, from seeing the bull-rushes a little more dis- 
tinctly, that we were drifting too near, and in the 
next moment we slipped gently upon a shoal — so 
gently indeed, that I should not have known it. had 
not the tide, along with which we had been borne 
insensibly, now streamed past us, The hands were 
up instantly, and an anchor and hawser, kept in 
readiness alongside for such accidents, sent out to 
draw us off the ground. While this was going on, 
the Chinese in his boat paddled once more close 
under the spot where I was standing, and said, 
with his former tone and manner, and the addition 
of a knowing smile. Don't you want a pilot ?' 5 I 
laughed, and told him to come on board. 



CANTON. 



303 



In half an hour we were again afloat, and a light 
breeze springing up, we soon reached the anchor- 
age called the Second Bar, where a fleet of four- 
teen large ships of the East India Company lay at 
anchor. Being uncertain at first whether the brig 
would soon get afloat again or not, 1 had thought 
it best to make a signal for assistance. In less than 
an hour, upwards of a dozen of the Indiamen's 
long boats, each manned with not less than eighteen 
hands, came to us. Before they reached the brig 
we had got off the shoal, and I might have made 
signals to show they were no longer necessary, but 
was willing to indulge both my own crew and 
these strangers with a meeting. We had now been 
nearly nine months from England, during the whole 
of which period we had either been at sea, or among 
remote countries, beyond the reach of news ; and 
nothing, certainly, was ever better bestowed than 
this rencontre. Our men were bursting with ea- 
gerness to tell the story of their adventures, and 
the people in the boats, who had just arrived from 
England, had much to impart of friends and home. 

On reaching the Alceste, I found orders lying for 
me to proceed to Canton ; and as a captain of one 
of the tea ships was just setting off in a large and 
commodious barge, I preferred accompanying him 
to rowing up alone. Probably, had I gone in a 
man-of-war's boat, the Chinese, who had treated 
Captain Maxwell with great politeness wherever 
he passed, might have been equally civil to his bro- 
ther officer. But they observed no such delicacy 
in the case of the East India captain, for wherever 
we passed, they climbed to the most conspicuous 
parts of their boats, and saluted us in a style the 
very fartherest removed from good manners ; suit- 



304 



CAHTOX. 



ing the rudest actions to words probably not more 
courteous. The eloquence was quite thrown away 
upon us, but there was no mistaking the purport 
of the gesture. For some time this was amusing, 
rather than otherwise ; and to me at least the 
whole scene, from beginning to end, was a subject 
of unmixed entertainment. But my companion, 
though one of the best men alive,, was not the most 
patient person in the fleet, and replied at first to 
these insults by a few emphatic oaths in broad 
Scotch. Presently he stood up, and shook his 
list in a very angry manner, which produced nothing 
but a loud and scornful laugh ; this instantly drove 
my friend into a towering passion ; and before I 
could stop him, he caught up a fowling-piece, 
lying on the stern sheets, and discharged it directly 
at a thick cluster of Chinese, not one of whose 
faces could be seen, but who nevertheless offered 
a most conspicuous front to his aim. Fortunately 
the piece was loaded with snipe shot, and the dis- 
tance being considerable, the dose, thus promptly 
administered, acted merely as a sedative, not only 
upon the crew of the nearest vessel, but upon that 
of every other in sight. " There, you long-tailed 
rascals," exclaimed the Highlander, " there is a 
second edition of Maxwell and the batteries for 
you!" And no doubt the effect was analogous; 
for many weeks afterwards, when I passed in the 
same boat with the same person, the natives re- 
cognised the hand that had peppered them, and 
were extremely civil as we rowed along. 

We had thus to fight our way, step by step, into 
the good graces of the Chinese. The last conflict 
which we had with them took place about an hour 
after I had reached Canton, at Captain Maxwell's 



CANTON. 



30$ 



lodgings. We heard a great noise at the top of 
the stairs, and on going out to see what was the 
matter, found my coxswain and boat's crew in 
high altercation with a Chinaman, who was endea- 
vouring to deprive them of a trunk which they 
carried on their shoulders. My boat had followed 
me to Canton, and the sailors on landing naturally 
brought the things to our lodgings : just as they 
crossed the threshold, however, they were observed 
by the Mandarin of the custom-house, who called 
out to them to stop, and insisted upon searching 
the packages. Jack resisted this, and both parties 
having entered the house, the action which had 
disturbed us was raging on the staircase. 

As it was an established practice at Canton for 
no Chinese authority to enter the house of an Euro- 
pean resident without first obtaining permission, 
this proceeding was quite contrary to usage. At 
all events, Captain Maxwell, who had commenced 
by assuming a high tone in great matters, was re- 
solved to carry it through even in trifles, and turn- 
ing to the Chinese, asked him by what right he had 
dared to violate the quarters assigned to his Bri- 
tannic Majesty's officers, without first appealing 
to him. The Mandarin looked a little surprised ; 
but a reply being insisted upon, he said it was 
quite a mistake — that he had imagined the trunks 
had belonged to some merchant ship, and not to 
a king's ship. 4t Well, then," said Captain Max- 
well, u you must learn better in future." And turn- 
ing to the sailors, , ordered them to put the officer 
out of the house, and retired to his own room, whis- 
pering to me in passing to take care that the intru- 
der was not hurt. I had enough to do, however, 
to attend to this hint, for my fellows the moment 
26*" 



306 



CANNON. 



they heard the words " tarn him out,* 5 caught up 
the unhappy Chinaman, and bore him along over 
their heads, till they reached the door, whence, as 
they expressed it, they gave him fresh headway into 
the street ; and in fact, had it not been for the crowd 
assembled before the door, against whom he fell 
headlong, it might have fared worse for the poor 
Mandarin, who, gathering himself up, took to his 
heels, and never stopped till he reached his little 
office at the beach. The rest of the crowd, fan- 
cying, by the impetus with which their countryman 
had been projected from the house, that the terrible 
Captain himself was in his rear, were seized with 
a panic, and in a few seconds not a soul was to be 
seen. 

Under any other than the very peculiar circum- 
stances in which we were placed, such determined 
measures for maintaining our independence might 
have been questionable. As it was, however, we 
remained after these contests several months at 
Canton without receiving the slightest insult ; and 
the gentlemen of the Factory declared that they 
had never, till now r , been treated even with com- 
mon attention ; and when at last the Embassy ar- 
rived from the interior, the Chinese vied with one 
another who should be most obliging. It must be 
remembered, in considering these questions, that 
England has no treaty with China ; every thing, 
therefore, relating to the intercourse of foreigners, 
being regulated by custom alone, it becomes real- 
ly important, when an opportunity occurs, to es- 
tablish convenient, instead of irksome usages. In 
this view, Captain Maxwell the next day, explain- 
ed in an official communication to the Chinese au- 
thorities, that as his Majesty's ships had nothing 



307 



to do with trade, none of their boats ever carried 
goods ; and he pledged himself to take care that no 
smuggling occurred through their means : but he 
positively refused to allow a king's boat or a king's 
officer under any pretence whatsoever to be search- 
ed. And although at a distance this may be thought 
an insignificant matter, it was considered a material 
point gained, in a country where such trifles take 
the place of more important affairs ; and where, 
in fact, if they were not attended to from time to 
time, the life of a foreigner would soon become 
almost insupportable. In this point of view, it is 
extremely satisfactory to learn, that ever since the 
wholesome lessons which Captain Maxwell read 
to the Chinese on the score of good manners, there 
has been a remarkable improvement in the con- 
dition of all the foreign residents, w T ho have the 
supreme happiness, as the Chinese express it, of 
being suffered to live in the Celestial Empire. 

So much has been written respecting China, and 
especially about Canton, that I shall be excused 
for not entering on so threadbare a subject. We 
were allowed to walk about the streets to a great 
distance from the Factory, without meeting any 
kind of obstruction or insult ; and when we hap- 
pened to come near the gates of the Citadel or 
inner town, were warned off by sentinels with long 
poles, but no impediments were ever thrown in 
the way of our examining the shops, or the different 
manufactories, with which the other parts of this im- 
mense city abound ; and as the sight of Europeans 
was familiar to the people, no notice was taken of 
us, and every one continued at his business as if 
no stranger was looking on. The gentlemen of 
the Embassy, when they returned from travelling 



303 



CANTOX. 



upwards of a thousand miles through the interior 
of the country, declared that in a few days they 
had seen in Canton not only every thing they had 
met with before, but could observe it to better pur- 
pose than during the journey. 

The only evil likely to attend these peranibula* 
tions through the streets, was the loss of a hand- 
kerchief or two. A Chinese thief picked my 
pocket one day, so dexterously, that I did not per- 
ceive the loss: but my companion, the same 
gentleman who had silenced the significant saluta- 
tions of the Chinese boatmen, and who w T as better 
acquainted with the people, detected the rogue, 
and caught him by the end of his long tail, as it 
was whisking round the corner of the street. He 
began instantly to belabour the thief with his cane, 
and what seemed odd enough, to the entire satis- 
faction of the multitude, who, so far from attempt- 
ing a rescue, encouraged a due infliction of this 
discipline. After a certain number of blows had 
been given, however, there was a cry of" enough,'* 
and I was informed that if the punishment had not 
been discontinued at once, the extra allowance 
bestowed on the culprit, would have been paid 
back to the donor with a certain per-centage of 
interest. It seems every conceivable offence in 
China has its numerical value expressed in terms 
of the bamboo, by which alone it can be expiated ; 
and as this scale is well known to every man in 
the streets, a stranger is safe in administering the 
law himself, since he may be quite sure of having 
a limit set to his proceedings when, according to 
the refined calculus alluded to, justice has been 
satisfied. I was never very desirous of putting 
this to the test of actual experiment, but some 



CANTON. 



309 



days afterwards when the same fellow again pick- 
ed my pocket, I seized him by the collar, and was 
carrying him to the Police Office close at hand, 
when he fell on his knees and supplicated me to 
beat him, knowing perhaps that the sitting Man- 
darin would not let him off so cheaply as I should. 
The oddity of the request disarmed me entirely ^ 
and I gave him a small copper coin, bidding him 
not rob me any more — and he adhered faithfully 
to his promise, although I passed him frequently 
every day. This man was as well known to the 
police, as our professional rogues in London are 
said to be to the officers of Bow-Street, and as far 
as I could learn, made his bread by the same lauda- 
ble calling. The convention between him and 
me did not extend to my countrymen, however, and 
in the course of ten days, one of the midshipmen of 
my ship, a careless, gaping mortal, whose insa- 
tiable curiosity led him to wander in a sort of ec- 
stacy through the streets, lost no less than twelve 
pocket-handkerchiefs ; so that he became a sort 
of little fortune to my friend the pickpocket, who 
looked very ill pleased one day when I passed in 
company with the youngster, and by keeping be- 
tween them convoyed him in safety for once* 
This persevering rogue never shifted his station , 
but sat curled up like a spider in his hole, at the 
end of one of the numerous little bridges which 
cross the streets at Canton. 

It may not be uninteresting to Italian travellers 
to mention that about two years afterwards when 
in Venice, I was struck with the exact resemblance 
between one of the canal bridges of that city, and 
the post of this Chinese thief. Pursuing the pa- 
rallel, I was led to recognize the most remarkable 



310 



CANTON. 



similarity in the two places. Of course, I do not 
speak of the open squares and finer parts of Ve- 
nice, for there is nothing similar to these in Can- 
ton : but in all that quarter of the town, which lies 
between the Rialto and the Place of St. Mark, the 
coincidence is exact ; and he who has seen one of 
these cities, can form a tolerably correct concep- 
tion of the other. The streets are paved exactly 
in the same style — they are of the same width — 
have the same degree of light — the shops are just 
of the same dimensions and form — the houses are 
equal in height. The only difference that 1 could 
discover, lies in the signs : in China, each shop has 
a large finely japanned board, six feet long, with 
gilt letters, hanging not horizontally like ours in 
Europe, but perpendicularly, and left loose to flap 
about with the wind on one side of the door. 
Neither in Venice nor in Canton, are there any 
wheeled-carriages or horses ; the same method of 
carrying loads at the end of poles across the 
shoulders, being practised in both places, a cir- 
cumstance which tends greatly to heighten the un- 
expected resemblance between two places so re- 
mote from each other, and so differently circum- 
stanced. 

On the first of January 1817, a grand proces- 
sion of the boats of the men-of-war, and of all the 
Indiamen, left Canton, where they had been assem- 
bled in readiness for two days, and rowed about a 
league and a half up the river to meet the Am- 
bassador. The Chinese authorities were sorely an- 
noyed by such a host of men in their city, for there 
were thirty large boats, each carrying about sixteen 
men, all dressed alike, and kept in the strictest dis- 
cipline under their respective officers. These pre- 



CANTOS. 



311 



parations were made to ensure the Ambassador 
as respectable an entry into the city as possible, 
but not until it was found, upon application to the 
local government, that it was intended to pay him 
none of the usual honours. When the baffled 
Viceroy, however, beheld boat after boat arriving 
in his city, he would have been glad to have made 
any conditions on the subject of Lord Amherst's 
reception ; but Captain Maxwell had taken his 
line, and it was now too late. 

When the procession reached the Factory, the 
boats drew up and saluted his Excellency with 
three hearty cheers, the sound of which reached as 
far as the Viceroy's palace, and is said to have dis- 
turbed him exceedingly. 

In pursuance of Captain Maxwell's plan, ar* 
rangements were made by which Lord Amherst 
left Canton with still greater pomp and ceremony 
than he had entered it. He embarked at Wampoa 
on board the Alceste, which for this purpose was 
anchored at the highest point ever reached by any 
foreign ship : and such was the improvement in 
Chinese manners in the interval, that as the frigate 
dropped down the river, and passed the batteries 
a second time, the British flag was honoured by a 
complimentary salute from each in succession. 
The Embassy finally quitted China in January 
1817. The subsequent fate of the frigate, and the 
new and arduous duties which fell to the lot of her 
commander on that trying occasion, are well known 
to the world. The Lyra was sent to Calcutta with 
despatches to the Governor-general , from whence 
she proceeded to Madras and the Isle of France, 
and after a prosperous and pleasant passage round 
the Cape of Good Hope, anchored at St. Helena 
on the 11th of August, 



288 



CANTOR. 



were completely in the power of the Chinese, and 
there was no knowing to what risk their lives might 
be exposed, if the government were roused to take 
summary revenge, for what they might consider 
an outrage. No doubt, all these considerations 
had their weight ; but when carefully balanced, 
they were not found to shake the original plan, 
deliberately formed for resisting this attempt to de- 
grade the national character. 

The twenty-third day of the moon came accord- 
ingly , without any reply from the Viceroy : neither 
pilot nor Chop making its appearance. The Lyra 
in the meantime was despatched for provisions to 
the Portuguese settlement of Macao, in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood. But Captain Maxwell wish- 
ing to give ample time, and above all unwilling to 
do anything precipitate, waited four and twenty 
hours later than the day specified ; at the end of 
which period, on the 12th of November, he weigh- 
ed and proceeded to Chuen Pee, an anchorage a 
few miles below the narrow entrance called the 
Bogue, or Mouth, the Boca of the Portuguese 
navigators. Here a fleet consisting of seventeen 
large men-of-war junks, each mounting from four 
to six guns, with a compliment of sixty men, was 
drawn up in line of battle to oppose the farther 
progress of the frigate. The numerous batteries 
along shore were also observed to be filled with 
men : indeed the whole scene indicated a resolu- 
tion of resisting the intention of the strangers to 
pass the prescribed limits. A small boat, or as it 
is called a Sanpan, was now seen to put off from 
the admiral's junk and make towards the frigate. 
This boat was rowed by a single old woman, which 
ridiculous circumstance, though not uncommon in 



CASTOR. 



£89 



the upper parts of the river, was certainly now in- 
tended as an additional indignity. On her coming 
alongside, the same interpreter who had accompa- 
nied the Mandarin at the memorable interview of 
the 7th, made his appearance on the quarterdeck, 
along which he strode with an air of much greater 
confidence than he had shown in the cabin a few 
days before. He was the bearer of an order as he 
expressed it, from the commander-in-chief of the 
Emperor's war junks, for the frigate to anchor in- 
stantly. Captain Maxwell, whom nothing could irri- 
tate or discompose, answered this impertinent man- 
date by jocularly asking in the broken English used 
by the interpreter, " Suppose no do — what then ? 5? 
" Then, I thinkee," retorted the linguist, with a very 
significant wink of his small red eye, — 41 1 thinkee 
that my great Mandarin there sinkee your ship !" 
And sure enough, while they were still in conver- 
sation, the admiral fired first one gun, then another, 
and so on along the whole line. Although these 
guns were all shotted, Captain Maxwell, with good 
humour and presence of mind, called out that he 
was greatly obliged to the admiral for his salute, 
and ordered three guns to be fired with powder 
only, in return for the compliment, but continued 
his course onwards under all sail. The Mandarin 
soon put this mistake to rights by firing more shot, 
in which example he was followed by the whole 
fleet. Their guns were worked with considerable 
spirit and rapidity ; but somehow or other, not only 
the admiral, but all the officers under his orders, 
managed never to strike the frigate, or even to fire 
directly over her, taking care to pitch their shot 
either just ahead or just astern. It is not fair, 
perhaps, to insinuate what motives influenced this 
25 



290 



CANTON. 



gallant officer on the occasion ; it was sufficient 
for Captain Maxwell's purpose that no shot actu- 
ally hit his ship, and he sailed on without taking 
the smallest notice of the uncivil cannonading in 
his rear. 

When the frigate had reached nearly to the 
Bogue, or entrance, and almost within range of the 
battery called Annanhoy, the light wind which had 
carried her so far, gradually died away, and the 
tide, setting strongly out, rendered it necessary to 
drop the anchor. The Chinese fleet brought up 
likewise, but continued firing away as briskly as 
before. Captain Maxwell, whose attention had 
hitherto been occupied by piloting the frigate, was 
now at leisure to attend to the warlike admiral. 
He accordingly loaded one of the quarterdeck 
guns, a two and thirty pound carronade, and having 
directed it and primed the lock all with his own 
hands, drew the trigger himself. The gun was 
aimed so that the shot should pass over the centre 
of the commander-in-chief's junk. The effect was 
instantaneous, and most ludicrous ; the crews, not 
only of this vessel, but of the whole line, fell flat 
on their faces, as Captain Maxwell described it in 
his letter to me, u like Persians at sunrise," while 
the admiral in person was seen for a moment actu- 
ally in the air, into which he had leaped in the 
extremity of his amaze, and in the next instant he 
lay prostrate on the deck. So remarkable was this 
exhibition, that Captain Maxwell at first feared he 
had pointed the gun too low, and actually killed 
the poor Mandarin ; while the sailors, who were in 
ecstacies with the sight, exclaimed that the captain 
had shot away the China admiral's head. Without 



CANTON. 



291 



any such serious issue, the effect was quite as com- 
plete, for the firing instantly ceased. 

It is an invariable rule in China, whenever a 
casualty happens in consequence of guns fired from 
any foreign ships, to insist upon the man who ac- 
tually fired the gun being given up, not the officer 
who gave the order ; as if the guilt rested with the 
mere agent, rather than with the chief at whose in- 
stigation he has acted. Captain Maxwell was 
therefore determined, at all events, to simplify the 
present question, by loading and firing the first 
gun with his own hand, and thus to make himself, 
in every sense of the word, Chinese as well as Eu- 
ropean, the responsible person. This incident may 
perhaps appear a trifle to some persons, but it was 
one strictly in character with the whole of these 
proceedings ; and the anecdote is worthy of being 
borne in the recollection of every officer in com- 
mand, who, as he shares all, or nearly all the credit 
of successful enterprize, should be ready to take 
upon himself the whole weight of censure, should 
the consequences be disastrous. 

About half past eight o'clock of the same even- 
ing a breeze sprung up, which admitted of the ship 
steering through the Bogue. The anchor was in- 
stantly weighed ; but so vigilant were the Chinese, 
that the topsails were hardly sheeted home before 
a flight of rockets, and a signal gun from the fleet, 
announced that night or day the passage was to be 
disputed. In the next instant there was a simul- 
taneous flash of light from one end to the other of 
the batteries, on both sides of the river sky-rockets 
were thrown up in every direction, and all the em- 
brasures were illuminated in the most brilliant man- 
ner. " The boatswain's pipe," to use Captain 



292 



CANTON. 



Maxwell's own expression, u did not man the Al- 
ceste's guns more smartly than these signals did the 
Chinese batteries. The very first shot they fired, 55 
to continue the extract from a letter I received 
some days afterwards, " hit us very hard in the 
bows, and pretty low down ; the second cut away 
one of the mizen-shrouds, and went through the 
spanker ; in short, they went on remarkably well. 
It really put us quite in mind of old times again. 
My orders were that not a shot should be fired un- 
til one was heard from the quarter-deck, the trig- 
ger of which I pulled myself when within less than 
half-musket shot of Annanhoy, the battery at the 
Bogue ; and then the main-deck and forecastle 
very speedily put out all the John Chinaman's 
lights. It really was a very fine and spirited scene 
while it lasted. 

" But the best effect of the whole is," continues 
Captain Maxwell, " that the Viceroy has quite re- 
covered his good breeding, and become remarka- 
bly civil. A Mandarin of much higher rank than 
our former visitor was sent down to where the ship 
had anchored in the river, after passing the batte- 
ries, to say that I might come as far as I pleased ; 
that the Lyra might also enter the river when I 
pleased ; all boats might pass and repass the Bogue 
when I pleased ; in short every thing is to be done 
according to my pleasure ; and, what is amusing 
enough, a Chop, or edict, has been published in 
Canton, stating that the Alceste had entered and 
come up the river by the Viceroy's express permis- 
sion, in the same manner as the ships of the former 
embassy." 

Thus far Captain Maxwell ; but I cannot omit 
relating two characteristic traits of this officer, of 



CJ ANTON. 



29o 



which he has omitted all mention himself. At the 
time of passing through the Bogue, and after the 
first broadside from the frigate had been poured 
into the battery, but while some of the guns still 
continued firing at the ship, the greater number of 
the Chinese who had not been knocked over by 
the Alceste's fire, scampered off to the right and 
left up the hill, each with a paper lantern in his 
hand, thus affording a conspicuous mark for the 
small arms. Captain Maxwell, however, jumped 
on the poop, and would not allow a single musket 
to be fired ; remarking that his purpose was to 
effect a passage by silencing the great guns, and 
that if he could avoid it not a single Chinese should 
be hurt. 

The other anecdote is equally in character. On 
the morning after the ship had passed the batte- 
ries, and reached the intended anchorage, Captain 
Maxwell ordered his gig, a small four-oared boat, 
to be manned ; and without taking arms, or making 
any previous stipulations for his own safety, rowed 
straight up to Canton, a distance of more than thirty 
miles from his ship. The news of the action had 
preceded his arrival, and immense multitudes were 
assembled to see the officer who had destroyed 
those fortresses considered by the whole empire 
as impregnable. He was received on the wharf 
by the members of the British Factory with al- 
most equal admiration. " Gentlemen," said he, 
u I have felt it my duty to take a step of great im- 
portance, and one which may perhaps seriously 
involve not only the Ambassador and his suite, 
but all of you ; and as I am the person principally 
concerned, I have come here to share the risk what- 
ever it may prove." The crowd as he walked 



CANTON. 



along fell back in as much amaze as if a tiger from 
the woods had sprung among them, but towards 
evening they were all dispersed, and the danger 
which, had he shrunk from facing it. would have 
been imminent, was entirely at an end. 

While Captain Maxwell was thus busily em- 
ployed, I had proceeded by his orders on the 7th 
November to a harbour called the Typa, within a 
mile or two of Macao. Early next morning a 
large Chinese war vessel, mounting seven guns 
and crowded with people, anchored about a quar- 
ter of a mile to the eastward of us. AH eyes were 
turned to this new and strange sight, for we had 
not before seen any junk nearly so large : but 
while we were engaged in examining her more 
minutely, another still larger dropped anchor un- 
der our stern ; presently another took his station 
on the bow, and one on the quarter, till in the 
course of half an hour we found ourselves fairly 
encaged by these immense vessels. One very 
zealous officer among them took a birth rather 
too close as I thought, as he brought up actually 
within the Lyra's buoy. So great a departure from 
professional etiquette I imagined must be intended 
as a prelude to something hostile, and I prepared 
my little ship for the contest. We had only ten 
guns, indeed, but these were thirty-two pound car- 
ronades, and we might. I dare say, have done very 
well on the occasion of coining to blows, unless, 
indeed, it had occurred to the Chinese to have sail- 
ed their immense castles one on each side of us, in 
which case the poor Lyra mu^t have been crushed 
like an egg-shell. For the smallest of these junks 
could not have been less than four or five times 
our tonnage, and at least three times as high out 



CANNON. 



295 



of the water. As soon as the guns were shotted, 
I sent my boat to the junk which had anchored so 
close as almost to be touching us, to beg he would 
move a little farther off. The officer of my boat 
found a linguist on board, to whom he readily ex- 
plained the impropriety of anchoring so near ; and 
I confess I was not sorry to observe my friend 
comply so readily, and get his anchor up again to 
take his station along with the rest of the fleet. It 
was soon apparent they intended us no immediate 
mischief, but were sent to watch us, and I suppose 
to keep us in awe ; for every morning and evening, 
at sunrise and sunset, there was a grand muster- 
ing on board each junk ; all the crews were dis- 
played on the decks, and a furious beating of gongs 
set up, which was doubtless meant to be very ter- 
rific and impressive, 

We took no farther notice, but proceeded with 
our re-equipment, till on the (5th of November, 
accounts reached Macao that Captain Maxwell 
had been engaged with the batteries, and had 
afterwards sailed up the river. I was on shore at 
Macao at the time the news arrived, but went on 
board instantly to see what part the Chinese fleet 
would take, not.knowmg how far it might suit the 
admiral's ideas of the service, to visit the sins of 
the frigate upon the sloop of war. But to my sur- 
prise I beheld them all getting under weigh in the 
utmost hurry and confusion, as if the pigmy Lyra 
was going to swallow these giants up ; and without 
waiting for order of battle, or any order at all, ran 
off as hard as they could scamper out of oiir reach, 
into the inner harbour of Macao, where they 
crowded themselves together like sheep, and moor- 
ed in a compact body, actually touching one an- 
other. 



296 



CAKTOIf. 



As I knew nothing of the Alceste's proceedings 
except through the reports of the Chinese and Por- 
tuguese, which varied every hour, I resolved to wait 
Captain Maxwell's farther instructions. It was a 
week before I heard from him, and my orders then 
were to proceed up the river, to where the Alceste 
lay, and not to return the fire of the batteries, should 
they recommence hostilities, but in that case to 
anchor below the Bogue, until I was joined by the 
frigate. In order to avoid all mistakes, or misun- 
derstandings, he also sent me positive directions to 
avoid all intercourse with the Chinese, whatever ad- 
vances might be made by the commanders of the 
forts or fleets. In pursuance of these directions, I 
tripped my anchor on the 25th, and sailed out of 
the Typa ; but the tides not being favourable, we 
were obliged to force our way through the mud, and 
at one place actually sailed for upwards of half a 
league in two feet less water, by the sounding line, 
than the ship drew : that is to say, we appeared to 
be in ten feet water, while the vessel drew 7 twelve. 
The moment our sails were set, we observed a stir 
among the men-of-war junks, and in a little while 
they came out one by one. As the wind was against 
us, we had to make a tack towards the harbour's 
mouth, where we were met by the whole eight sail 
of the line, gaily dressed out in long shallow-tailed 
streamers, and led by tbeir gallant commodore, who 
carried a flag twice as large as any of the rest. At 
sunset it fell calm, and the tide having turned, we 
ail anchored together, no one of the junks being 
above a cable's length, or two hundred yards from 
the brig. As soon as the sails were furled, the 
commodore manned his barge, and came himself 
to pay the Lyra a visit. I should have been very 



CANTON. 



297 



glad to have received him, but Captain Maxwell's 
orders against any intercourse being explicit, I , 
could do nothing but decline his civility, and keep 
him off. In spite of all I could do, however, he 
rowed alongside, and sent an officer up with his 
card. This personage who forced his way on board 
addressed me in these words, " I come to see about 
your pigeon." — " My pigeon," said I ; u I have 
no pigeons on board, and you must go away — I 
cannot receive you — go down the side, if you 
please." — u No ! no," exclaimed he, by way of 
clearing up the mystery, "my master, this great 
Mandarin," pointing to his chief, " has come to see 
about the ship's pigeon." While I was puzzling 
over this speech, I observed the commodore and 
two ior three of his attendants climbing on board 
the br*g, and therefore called out to some of the 
sailors, \ u Here, my lads, put this gentleman into 
his boatAagain." In an instant a couple of strap- 
ping fell® ws, who liked no better sport, leaped up, 
and \voyid have tumbled the poor Chinese over the 
gangway in a trice, had I not caught their arms. 
The interpreter, seeing what was going to happen, 
made a wise and precipitate retreat, dragging the 
commander-in-chief along with him by the tail, and 
screaming to the boatmen to shove off. 

I was really extremely sorry to be guilty of such 
rudeness ; but my orders being imperative, I had 
no other way of resisting such determined intru- 
sion, but that of threatening to throw the foremost 
of my visiters overboard. I was glad it was not 
the chief himself who led the way, as I must have 
used some equally uncivil arguments with him, 
which I confess would have been a monstrous 
breach of naval etiquette. 



298 



CANTON. 



I afterwards learned that the word w pigeon," 
in the strange jargon which is spoken at Canton by 
w T ay of English, means business, so that what the 
linguist meant to say was, " I am come to see 
about your business " It is, perhaps* not generally 
known that all transactions between foreigners, of 
whatever nation, are carried on here in a singular 
dialect, called English, but which is scarcely in- 
telligible at first, even to an Englishman, and must 
be totally unintelligible to every other foreigner. 
It is made up of English, Portuguese, and Chinese, 
and although barbarous in the highest degree, must 
be studied by every trader at the port. Until very 
lately, all business was transacted by the British 
Factory in this most absurd language. Of late 
years, however, the Company's servants at Canton 
have made themselves acquainted both with the 
written and spoken Chinese, and every thing ma- 
terial now passes in the language of the country. 
The natives themselves, whose principle it is to 
discourage all assimilation, sometimes lament this 
newly-acquired power of communicating, and look 
back with regret to the times when the supercar- 
goes drank a great deal of wine, and spoke not a 
word of their language. " Now," as I heard one 
of the Hong merchants say, with a sigh and a 
shake of the head, u the English speak Chinese as 
well as I do, and drink nothing but water." 

As soon as the tide served next morning, after 
daybreak, we weighed, in company with the fleet, 
and continued all day beating to windward. For 
some time these vessels held very good way with 
us, but when the breeze freshened we left them 
to leeward, though not by any means so fast as wc 
had been led to expect we should have done. 



CAHTON. 



299 



During the day we often crossed one another, on 
opposite tacks, sometimes to windward, sometimes 
to leeward, and often so close as almost to touch, 
making a very amusing and spirited sailing match. 

As the night closed in I let go my anchor, not 
being willing to incur the risk of running upon the 
shoals. The Chinese commodore and two of his 
next best sailers were just in sight at sunset, fat* to 
leeward, but being well acquainted with the river 
they had no occasion to anchor, and before mid- 
night, they were once more clustered round their 
little charge. We were now at Chuen Pee where 
Captain Maxwell had anchored previous to enter- 
ing the Bogue, and I could observe from the lights 
in the batteries, and an occasional rocket, that the 
garrison were no less upon the alert than they had 
been upon that occasion. 

By the first peep of dawn next morning we were 
again under weigh, and about breakfast-time steer- 
ed for the narrow neck, or Bogue, the scene of ac- 
tion on the 13th. The flags were hoisted at all the 
signal-posts, and the batteries every where crowded 
with people. I went as close as possible to Annan- 
hoy, in order to see what damage had been done. 
Thirty-nine pieces of cannon were counted, none 
of them less than twenty-four pounders, and all 
within five or six feet of the level of the water ; 
and so judiciously arranged, that if properly served, 
they might repulse a considerable force. The face 
of the wall, blown down by the Alceste's broad- 
side, had been built up again, and the Chinese must 
have worked night and day to conceal their disas- 
ter. From the new appearance, however, of the 
works, and the marks of shot on the steep face of 
the rock immediately behind the guns, I shouH 



300 



LAST OS. 



think that most, if not all the guns must have been 
dismounted, and the embrazures beaten together. 
As the Alceste passed considerably within her own 
]ength of the battery, and the water was perfectly 
smooth, every shot must have told. 

We were greeted very differently ; for as we 
passed, a boat with four large skulls, and dressed 
up with long streamers reaching to the water, came 
from the fort with an officer, who hailed us, and 
said he was sent by the governor to ask if we want- 
ed a pilot, or any other assistance. But he did not 
come close alongside, having probably heard from 
the admiral, whose boat we saw lying at the sally- 
port of the battery, that we were not very civil to 
our visiters. I hesitated a moment whether or not 
I should take a pilot, but upon considering the 
matter a little, declined his offer, and he rowed 
back again, after making the most respectful sa- 
lams as he took his leave. I refused this offer not 
only from feeling confident that we could do with- 
out assistance, but also because I thought it likely 
that Captain Maxwell, who had himself taken the 
frigate up, might wish to demonstrate to the Chi- 
nese, that we could do without them in this matter ; 
a circumstance, we learned afterwards, which 
caused almost as much surprise at Canton as the 
passage of the batteries. There was, however, no 
mystery in the case, as an admirable chart of the 
river had been constructed shortly before this pe- 
riod, by Captain Daniel Ross, a gentleman to 
whom the navigators of every nation, whose busi- 
ness leads them to the eastern seas, are indebted 
in the highest degree. 

The East India Company have the sole merit, 
ind a very high one it is. of having originated the 



CANT0T5*. 



301 



splendid idea of surveying in a scientific manner, 
not only the vast seas and coasts of China, but all 
the straits, bays, and islands in the Indian Ocean 
and Malay Archipelago. This work, perhaps the 
most useful, and certainly the greatest of its kind 
that any nation ever undertook, has been steadily 
carried on at an enormous expense for many years, 
under every circumstance of peace or war. To 
many persons this language may seem too strong ; 
but I write without exaggeration, at the dictation 
of feelings which most people will be ready to 
make allowance for. In an open sea, in broad 
daylight, and in fine weather, nothing can be more 
delightful than sailing along on such a voyage as 
ours to visit strange countries. But when the 
scene is changed to a dark stormy night, in narrow- 
rocky passages, with rapid tides sweeping through 
them, the blessing of such charts as those of Cap- 
tain Ross, and such directions as those of Hors- 
burgh, is feit in a manner that the " gentlemen of 
England, who live at home at ease," can form but 
a faint conception of. 

The flood tide was now making, and we were 
carried gently past the various batteries on both 
sides of the river, every one of which sent off a 
boat to offer us any assistance we might require ; 
but I declined all their offers. At noon it fell 
almost calm, but the water being perfectly smooth, 
the brig still had steerage way, and I sent the 
people to dinner, thinking we should not require 
them to perform any evolution before one o'clock. 
The last drain of the flood was now stealing along, 
and the river seemed like a bowl filled up to the 
brim. The banks were low and swampy, without 
trees or houses, or any definite landmark, bv which 
26 



302 



CAKTOU; 



our precise place could be told. Every thing look- 
ed so perfectly placid, that I dreamed of no danger, 
after having already navigated by the chart, for 
thirty or forty miles through a succession of intri- 
cate and dangerous shoals. I was thus lulled into 
an undue degree of security, and permitted the 
tide to drift the brig silently and imperceptibly 
towards the eastern bank of this immense river. 
While I was standing on the poop, endeavouring, 
if possible, to catch some object on the monoto- 
nous flat shore, by which the vessel's progress might 
be indicated, a small Chinese boat glided slowly up 
Tinder the quarter, as if to watch our motions. I - 
took no notice of the boatman, who. however, after 
lying in the same spot for five minutes, stood up, 
and said in English, " Don't you want a pilot V I 
said, " Oh, no — I know the river as well as you 
do. I want no pilot." The man shrugged his 
shoulders and sat down again. It now wanted only 
ten minutes of one, but I was unwilling to disturb 
the people at their meal, although I began to sus- 
pect, from seeing the bull-rushes a little more dis- 
tinctly, that we were drifting too near, and in the 
next moment we slipped gently upon a shoal — so 
gently indeed, that I should not have known it, had 
not the tide, along with which we had been borne 
insensibly, now streamed past us. The hands were 
up instantly, and an anchor and hawser, kept in 
readiness alongside for such accidents, sent out to 
draw us off the ground. While this was going on, 
the Chinese in his boat paddled once more close 
under the spot where I was standing, and said, 
with his former tone and manner, and the addition 
of a knowing smile, " Don't you want a pilot ?*' I 
laughed, and told him to come on board. 



CANTON. 



303 



In half an hour we were again afloat, and a light 
breeze springing up, we soon reached the anchor- 
age called the Second Bar, where a fleet of four- 
teen large ships of the East India Company lay at 
anchor. Being uncertain at first whether the brig 
would soon get afloat again or not, 1 had thought 
it best to make a signal for assistance. In less than 
an hour, upwards of a dozen of the Indiamen's 
long boats, each manned with not less than eighteen 
hands, came to us. Before they reached the brig 
we had got off the shoal, and I might have made 
signals to show they were no longer necessary, but 
was willing to indulge both my own crew and 
these strangers with a meeting. We had now been 
nearly nine months from England, during the whole 
of which period we had either been at sea, or among 
remote countries, beyond the reach of news ; and 
nothing, certainly, was ever better bestowed than 
this rencontre. Our men were bursting with ea- 
gerness to tell the story of their adventures, and 
the people in the boats, who had just arrived from 
England, had much to impart of friends and home. 

On reaching the Alceste, I found orders lying for 
me to proceed to Canton ; and as a captain of one 
of the tea ships was just setting off in a large and 
commodious barge, I preferred accompanying him 
to rowing up alone. Probably, had I gone in a 
man-of-war's boat, the Chinese, who had treated 
Captain Maxwell with great politeness wherever 
he passed, might have been equally civil to his bro- 
ther officer. But they observed no such delicacy 
in the case of the East India captain, for wherever 
we passed, they climbed to the most conspicuous 
parts of their boats, and saluted us in a style the 
very fartherest removed from good manners ; suit- 



304 



CAHTON. 



ing the rudest actions to words probably not more 
courteous. The eloquence was quite thrown away 
upon us, but there was no mistaking the purport 
of the gesture. For some time this was amusing, 
rather than otherwise ; and to me at least the 
whole scene, from beginning to end, was a subject 
of unmixed entertainment. But my companion, 
though one of the best men alive, was not the most 
patient person in the fleet, and replied at first to 
these insults by a few emphatic oaths in broad 
Scotch. Presently he stood up, and shook his 
list in a very angry manner, which produced nothing 
but a loud and scornful laugh ; this instantly drove 
my friend into a towering passion ; and before I 
could stop him, he caught up a fowling-piece, 
lying on the stern sheets, and discharged it directly 
at a thick cluster of Chinese, not one of whose 
faces could be seen, but who nevertheless offered 
a most conspicuous front to his aim. Fortunately 
the piece was loaded with snipe shot, and the dis- 
tance being considerable, the dose, thus promptly 
administered, acted merely as a sedative, not only 
upon the crew of the nearest vessel, but upon that 
of every other in sight. " There, you long-tailed 
rascals," exclaimed the Highlander, " there is a 
second edition of Maxwell and the batteries for 
you! 1 ' And no doubt the effect was analogous; 
for many weeks afterwards, when I passed in the 
same boat with the same person, the natives re- 
cognised the hand that had peppered them, and 
were extremely civil as we rowed along. 

We had thus to fight our way, step by step, into 
the good graces of the Chinese. The last conflict 
which we had with them took place about an hour 
after I had reached Canton, at Captain Maxwell's 



CANTON. 



£05 



lodgings. We heard a great noise at the top of 
the stairs, and on going out to see what was the 
matter, found my coxswain and boat's crew in 
high altercation with a Chinaman, who was endea- 
vouring to deprive them of a trunk which they 
carried on their shoulders. My boat had followed 
me to Canton, and the sailors on landing naturally 
brought the things to our lodgings : just as they 
crossed the threshold, however, they were observed 
by the Mandarin of the custom-house, who called 
out to them to stop, and insisted upon searching 
the packages. Jack resisted this, and both parties 
having entered the house, the action which had 
disturbed us was raging on the staircase. 

As it was an established practice at Canton for 
no Chinese authority to enter the house of an Euro- 
pean resident without first obtaining permission, 
this proceeding was quite contrary to usage. At 
all events, Captain Maxwell, who had commenced 
by assuming a high tone in great matters, was re- 
solved to carry it through even in trifles, and turn- 
ing to the Chinese, asked him by what right he had 
dared to violate the quarters assigned to his Bri- 
tannic Majesty's officers, without first appealing 
to him. The Mandarin looked a little surprised ; 
but a reply being insisted upon, he said it was 
quite a mistake — that he had imagined the trunks 
had belonged to some merchant ship, and not to 
a king's ship. w Well, then," said Captain Max- 
well, "you must learn better in future." And turn- 
ing to the sailors, . ordered them to put the officer 
out of the house, and retired to his own room, whis- 
pering to me in passing to take care that the intru- 
der was not hurt. I had enough to do, however, 
to attend to this hint, for mv fellows the moment 
26*" 



306 



CANTON. 



they heard the words " turn him out, rj caught up 
the unhappy Chinaman, and bore him along over 
their heads, till they reached the door, whence, as 
they expressed it, they gave him fresh headway into 
the street ; and in fact, had it not been for the crowd 
assembled before the door, against whom he fell 
headlong, it might have fared worse for the poor 
Mandarin, who, gathering himself up, took to his 
heels, and never stopped till he reached his little 
office at the beach. The rest of the crowd, fan- 
cying, by the impetus with which their countryman 
had been projected from the house, that the terrible 
Captain himself was in his rear, were seized with 
a panic, and in a few seconds not a soul was to be 
seen. 

Under any other than the very peculiar circum- 
stances in which w r e were placed, such determined 
measures for maintaining our independence might 
have been questionable. As it was, however, w T e 
remained after these contests several months at 
Canton without receiving the slightest insult ; and 
the gentlemen of the Factory declared that they 
had never, till now, been treated even with com- 
mon attention ; and when at last the Embassy ar- 
rived from the interior, the Chinese vied with one 
another w 7 ho should be most obliging. It must be 
remembered, in considering these questions, that 
England has no treaty with China ; every thing, 
therefore, relating to the intercourse of foreigners, 
being regulated by custom alone, it becomes real- 
ly important, when an opportunity occurs, to es- 
tablish convenient, instead of irksome usages. In 
this view, Captain Maxwell the next day, explain- 
ed in an official communication to the Chinese au- 
thorities, that as his Majesty's ships had nothing 



CASTOR. 307 

to do with trade, none of their boats ever carried 
goods ; and he pledged himself to take care that no 
smuggling occurred through their means : but he 
positively refused to allow a king's boat or a king's 
officer under any pretence whatsoever to be search- 
ed. And although at a distance this may be thought 
an insignificant matter, it was considered a material 
point gained, in a country where such trifles take 
the place of more important affairs ; and where, 
in fact, if they were not attended to from time to 
time, the life of a foreigner would soon become 
almost insupportable. In this point of view, it is 
extremely satisfactory to learn, that ever since the 
wholesome lessons which Captain Maxwell read 
to the Chinese on the score of good manners, there 
has been a remarkable improvement in the con- 
dition of all the foreign residents, who have the 
supreme happiness, as the Chinese express it, of 
being suffered to live in the Celestial Empire. 

So much has been written respecting China, and 
especially about Canton, that I shall be excused 
for not entering on so threadbare a subject. We 
were allowed to walk about the streets to a great 
distance from the Factory, without meeting any 
kind of obstruction or insult ; and when we hap- 
pened to come near the gates of the Citadel or 
inner town, were warned off by sentinels with long 
poles, but no impediments were ever thrown in 
the way of our examining the shops, or the different 
manufactories, with which the other parts of this im- 
mense city abound ; and as the sight of Europeans 
was familiar to the people, no notice was taken of 
us, and every one continued at his business as if 
no stranger was looking on. The gentlemen of 
the Embassy, when they returned from travelling 



303 



CANTON. 



upwards of a thousand miles through the interior 
of the country, declared that in a few days they 
had seen in Canton not only every thing they had 
met with before, but could observe it to better pur- 
pose than during the journey. 

The only evil likely to attend these perambula- 
tions through the streets, was the loss of a hand- 
kerchief or two. A Chinese thief picked my 
pocket one day, so dexterously, that I did not per- 
ceive the loss : but my companion, the same 
gentleman who had silenced the significant saluta- 
tions of the Chinese boatmen, and who was better 
acquainted with the people, detected the rogue, 
and caught him by the end of his long tail, as it 
was whisking round the corner of the street. He 
began instantly to belabour the thief with his cane, 
and what seemed odd enough, to the entire satis- 
faction of the multitude, who, so far from attempt- 
ing a rescue, encouraged a due infliction of this 
discipline. After a certain number of blows had 
been given, however, there was a cry of" enough, 1 ' 
and I was informed that if the punishment had not 
been discontinued at once, the extra allowance 
bestowed on the culprit, would have been paid 
back to the donor with a certain per-centage of 
interest. It seems every conceivable offence in 
China has its numerical value expressed in terms 
of the bamboo, by which alone it can be expiated ; 
and as this scale is w r ell known to every man in 
the streets, a stranger is safe in administering the 
law himself, since he may be quite sure of having 
a limit set to his proceedings when, according to 
the refined calculus alluded to, justice has been 
satisfied. I was never very desirous of putting 
this to the test of actual experiment, but some 



CANTOS. 



309 



days afterwards when the same fellow again pick- 
ed my pocket, I seized him by the collar, and was 
carrying him to the Police Office close at hand^ 
when he fell on his knees and supplicated me to 
beat him, knowing perhaps that the sitting Man- 
darin would not let him oft so cheaply as I should. 
The oddity of the request disarmed me entirely 5 
and I gave him a small copper coin, bidding him 
not rob me any more — and he adhered faithfully 
to his promise, although I passed him frequently 
every day. This man was as well known to the 
police, as our professional rogues in London are 
said to be to the officers of Bow-Street, and as far 
as I could learn, made his bread by the same lauda- 
ble calling. The convention between him and 
me did not extend to my countrymen, however, and 
in the course of ten days, one of the midshipmen of 
my ship, a careless, gaping mortal, whose insa- 
tiable curiosity led him to wander in a sort of ec- 
stacy through the streets, lost no less than twelve 
pocket-handkerchiefs ; so that he became a sort 
of little fortune to my friend the pickpocket, who 
looked very ill pleased one day when I passed in 
company with the youngster, and by keeping be- 
tween them convoyed him in safety for once, 
This persevering rogue never shifted his station, 
but sat curled up like a spider in his hole, at the 
end of one of the numerous little bridges which 
cross the streets at Canton. 

It may not be uninteresting to Italian travellers 
to mention that about two years afterwards when 
in Venice, I was struck with the exact resemblance 
between one of the canal bridges of that city, and 
the post of this Chinese thief. Pursuing the pa- 
rallel, I was led to recognize the most remarkable 



310 



CANTON. 



similarity in the two places. Of course, I do not 
speak of the open squares and finer parts of Ve- 
nice, for there is nothing similar to these in Can- 
ton : but in all that quarter of the town, which lies 
between the Rialto and the Place of St. Mark, the 
coincidence is exact ; and he who has seen one of 
these cities, can form a tolerably correct concep- 
tion of the other. The streets are paved exactly 
in the same style — they are of the same width — - 
have the same degree of light — the shops are just 
of the same dimensions and form — the houses are 
equal in height. The only difference that I could 
discover, lies in the signs : in China, each shop has 
a large finely japanned board, six feet long, with 
gilt letters, hanging not horizontally like ours in 
Europe, but perpendicularly, and left loose to flap 
about with the wind on one side of the door. 
Neither in Venice nor in Canton, are there any 
wheeled-carriages or horses ; the same method of 
carrying loads at the end of poles across the 
shoulders, being practised in both places, a cir- 
cumstance which tends greatly to heighten the un- 
expected resemblance between two places so re- 
mote from each other, and so differently circum- 
stanced. 

On the first of January 1817, a grand proces- 
sion of the boats of the men-of-war. and of all the 
Indiamen, left Canton, where they had been assem- 
bled in readiness for two days, and rowed about a 
league and a half up the river to meet the Am- 
bassador. The Chinese authorities were sorely an- 
noyed by such a host of men in their city , for there 
were thirty large boats, each carrying about sixteen 
men, all dressed alike, and kept in the strictest dis- 
cipline under their respective officers. These pre- 



C4-NT02S. 



311 



parations were made to ensure the Ambassador 
as respectable an entry into the city as possible, 
but not until it was found, upon application to the 
local government, that it was intended to pay him 
none of the usual honours. When the baffled 
Viceroy, however, beheld boat after boat arriving 
in his city, he would have been glad to have made 
any conditions on the subject of Lord Amherst's 
reception ; but Captain Maxwell had taken his 
line, and it was now too late. 

When the procession reached the Factory, the 
boats drew up and saluted his Excellency with 
three hearty cheers, the sound of which reached as 
far as the Viceroy's palace, and is said to have dis- 
turbed him exceedingly. 

In pursuance of Captain Maxwell's plan, ar* 
rangements were made by which Lord Amherst 
left Canton with still greater pomp and ceremony 
than he had entered it. He embarked at Wampoa 
on board the Alceste, which for this purpose was 
anchored at the highest point ever reached by any 
foreign ship : and such was the improvement in 
Chinese manners in the interval, that as the frigate 
dropped down the river, and passed the batteries 
a second time, the British flag was honoured by a 
complimentary salute from each in succession. 
The Embassy finally quitted China in January 
1817. The subsequent fate of the frigate, and the 
new and arduous duties which fell to the lot of her 
commander on that trying occasion, are well known 
to the world. The Lyra was sent to Calcutta with 
despatches to the Governor-general , from whence 
she proceeded to Madras and the Isle of France, 
and after a prosperous and pleasant passage round 
the Cape of Good Hope, anchored at St. Helena 
on the 11th of August, 



U2 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 



CHAPTER X. 

INTERVIEW WITH NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AT ST. 
HELENA, IN AUGUST, 1817. 

Of course, nothing could engage our attention on 
arriving at St. Helena so strongly as its wonder- 
ful inhabitant, Napoleon Bonaparte. For many 
weeks before, the probability of seeing him had 
engrossed the thoughts of every one on board in a 
degree which it is difficult to describe, and would 
hardly be credited by those who, from distance or 
other circumstances, never by any possibility could 
have been admitted to his presence. Whatever 
prejudices or opinions we might previously have en- 
tertained respecting his character, every former 
sentiment was now overwhelmed by the intense 
anxiety to see a man who had exercised such an 
astonishing influence over the destinies of mankind. 
The vivid interest recently excited in our minds by 
travelling into remote countries, and being the first 
to contemplate unknown nations, and a totally new 
state of manners, high though it had been, and 
universally felt, was feeble in comparison to what 
we now experienced, when conscious of being 
within so short a distance of such a man as Napo- 
leon. I say this without the least affectation, but 
simply as a curious fact in the history of curiosity, 
if I may use so quaint an expression, by which 
every individual on board, high as well as low, was 
infinitely more occupied about this one man, than 
he had been with all the incidents of our singular 
voyage nut together. Even those of our number 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 313 

who, from their situation, could have no chance of 
seeing him, caught the fever of the moment, and 
the most cold and indifferent person on board was 
roused on the occasion into unexpected excite- 
ment. If this were true of others, it was ten times 
more striking in the case of those who had any ex- 
pectation of being admitted to an interview ; and 
I landed with two gentlemen who were passengers 
in my ship, in a state of greater anxiety than I ever 
experienced before or since. 

As I had the pleasure of being personally ac- 
quainted with the governor and his family, and had 
received an invitation to live at Plantation-House, 
I calculated with some confidence on the assistance 
which this acquaintance would afford in forward- 
ing the object in view. Before taking any steps., 
however, I waited upon the Admiral to receive 
his orders for my farther proceedings. He had no 
objections to my attempting to see Bonaparte, 
but gave me very slender hopes of success ; and on 
reaching the governor's country-house, I w T as much 
disappointed by rinding that Bonaparte and he 
were on terms which rendered it impossible for 
him to request an interview for any stranger. He 
most kindly, however, undertook to do all that was 
in his power, and immediately wrote a note to 
Captain Blakeney, the officer who was at that pe- 
riod in charge of Longwood, to say that I had just 
arrived from the Eastern Seas, and was desirous 
of waiting upon General Bonaparte, to whom my 
wishes were to be made known in the manner most 
likely to succeed. 

No answer came that evening ; and I did not 
sleep a wink all night. A positive refusal would 
probably have had a different effect ; the disap- 
9,7 



oi4 INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 

4: 

pointment must have been submitted to ; but this 
uncertainty was harassing and agitating in a de- 
gree which, though it surprised me a good deal 
at the time, I have since learned to consider per- 
fectly natural : for I see abundant explanation of 
my anxiety and want of rest, on comparing what 
I feel now on the subject, with the lasting regret I 
should inevitably have experienced, had I failed, 
when so very near, to see the most remarkable man 
of the age. 

This night was succeeded by a still more anxious 
morning. After breakfast an answer came from 
Longwoodto say, that my name had been mention- 
ed to Bonaparte, as well as my desire of paying 
my respects to him ; but it seemed he had not 
taken the slightest notice of the communication. 
Captain Blakeney added, that he thought it might 
be as well for me to come to Longwood, as Bona- 
parte might possibly choose to receive me if actu- 
ally on the spot : I accordingly rode over, accom- 
panied by my two companions. 

Dr. O'Meara and Captain Blakeney received us 
as we entered the grounds of Longwood, but gave 
us no hopes. Bonaparte, they were sorry to say 
was not in a humour to see any one ; he had not 
even mentioned my name ; and in all probability 
did not choose to have the subject spoken of again. 
It was a pity, they said, that we had not been a 
few minutes sooner, as he had been walking in 
the garden, and we might at least have had the sa- 
tisfaction of seeing him. Here was a fresh morti- 
fication, and we felt that we could have gone away 
contented and happy had we got but one glimpse 
of him, and have had it to say, or rather to feel and 
recollect, that so prodigious a meteor had not shot 



. INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 315 

across the political sky of our times without arrest- 
ing, if only for an instant, our actual observation. 

I have often heard this description and degree 
of curiosity called unreasonable, and have even 
known some people who said they would have 
cared mighty little to see Bonaparte ; that in short 
they would hardly have crossed the street merely 
to see him. With such persons I can acknowledge 
no sympathy in this matter ; and without fearing 
to lay myself open to the charge of trifling, I can 
assert with confidence, that no exertions I have 
ever made, have been nearly so well repaid by sub- 
sequent reflection, as those which have had for 
their object to get even a momentary view of dis- 
tinguished men This is most especially true in 
the case of Bonaparte ; and it would be easy, were 
it not tedious and out of place, to explain, and, as 
I think, to justify all this. 

Meanwhile we proceeded onwards to Count 
Bertrand's house, at the bottom of the gently slo- 
ping bank, on the western brow of which stood 
the dwelling of Bonaparte. Between the two 
houses lay a neat flower-garden, intersected by 
gravel walks, and enclosed by a low hedge : the 
immediate vicinity was distinguished from the sur- 
rounding bleak and desolate country by a few trees, 
dropped as if by accident in the desert. The 
Countess Bertrand received us in the midst of her 
family, in a small, low, uncomfortable apartment, 
which was rendered still more incommodious in 
consequence of some repairs in another part of 
the house, from whence the furniture had been re- 
moved ; so that sofas, beds, and tables, were hud- 
dled together where they had no proper places* 
The good lady herself seemed to be suffering from 



316 INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 

toothache ; the day was cold, and the scanty fire 
scarcely warmed the room ; a little child was moan- 
ing in its mother's arms, and in short, every thing- 
wore an air of discomfort. The person most con- 
cerned, however, appeared to be the least sensible 
of anything being wrong, and received us with 
smiles and kindness, and spared us all apology for 
the disorganized state of her establishment. Seve- 
ral very pretty children hearing the voices of stran- 
gers, came running in, and played merrily round 
us during all our stay, unconscious, poor little 
things, of the strange reverses of fortune under 
which their parents were suffering. The Countess 
appeared a remarkably lady-like person ; and what 
was more to our purpose, spoke English perfectly 
well, and soon gained our good will by the active 
interest she took in the object we had so much at 
heart, and on which alone we could think or speak. 
In a short time she had wrought herself into so 
much anxiety about our seeing the Emperor, that a 
stranger coming in might have thought she was one 
of the party who were endeavouring to see him for 
the first time. Her husband was also very obliging, 
and seemed willing to forward our views as much 
as lay in his power ; but he partook little of the 
vivacity of his wife, and seemed upon the whole 
rather out of spirits, and not altogether pleased 
with his situation. He described himself, indeed, 
as having suffered considerably in health from the 
confinement and the insalubrious air of the cli- 
mate. 

After sitting for about half an hour chatting on 
various topics, but always coming round to the ori- 
ginal subject which filled our thoughts, Count Ber- 
trand caught some portion of the interest we felt. 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE . 317 



and in which his wife so strongly participated. He 
said it was just possible the Emperor might admit 
us : at all events he would wait upon him, to com- 
municate our wishes, and return presently to let us 
know how he had fared in his mission. The in- 
terval was passed in a state of the utmost anxiety, 
and at every casual sound which we thought might 
be Count Bertrand's footstep, we started up, in ex- 
pectation of a summons. Madame Bertrand mean- 
while alternately consoled us, and rallied us upon 
our taking the matter so much to heart. Half an 
hour at least elapsed before we heard anything 
of his success : at length the door opened, and in- 
stead of the Grand Marshal himself, a servant en- 
tered and said he was desired to tell us, that the 
Emperor, on returning from his walk, had thrown 
off his coat, and lain down on the sofa ; in short, 
that he did not choose to receive any visiters. 

Here, then, was a termination to all our ex- 
pectations ; and we rose to take leave with a mix- 
ed feeling of regret at having lost the pleasure we 
had promised ourselves ; some degree of provoca- 
tion at Napoleon's cavalier treatment of us ; and 
perhaps a little dash of self-reproach, for having 
given the whole affair such immense importance. 

After mounting our horses, and riding away 
for about a quarter of a mile, it was recollected we 
had not seen Dr. O'Meara on leaving the grounds 
of Longwood ; and, having heard that this gentle- 
man was intimately acquainted with Bonaparte's 
disposition and habits, we turned our horses' heads 
back again, and found the Doctor at the gate. 
He gave us little or no hopes of accomplishing a 
sight of Bonaparte by any means he could think 
of: and we were just coming awav, when I chan- 
27* 



318 INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 

ced to mention my regret at not seeing the Empe- 
ror, as I wished to ask about Brienne, where my 
father, Sir James Hall, had passed some time at 
the very period he was a student at the Military 
College there. Dr. O'Meara said this materially 
altered the case, since Bonaparte took great inte- 
rest in every circumstance relative to Brienne, 
however minute, and might very possibly have ad- 
mitted me, had he known more particularly who 
I was. He added, that Bonaparte had already 
made some inquiries respecting the Lyra's voy- 
age to the East, but was not sufficiently interested 
by what he had heard, to see me on that account 
alone ; and that some farther motive was wanting 
to induce him to afford me an audience. It was 
now, however, long past his usual hour of seeing 
company, and Dr. O'Meara recommended us to go 
away for the night, promising, if an opportunity oc- 
curred, to speak to him on the subject ; and, if 
anything encouraging took place, to inform the 
Governor of it by telegraph. With this slender 
hope we again left Longwood ; my friends took the 
direct road to James' Town, while I recrossed the 
hills to Plantation-House. 

We were greatly surprised next morning not to 
receive any telegraphic message, favourable or 
otherwise ; but I kept my horse at the door, sad- 
dled, and all ready to start at a moment's warning. 
At one o'clock it was discovered that a signal had 
been made and duly received, more than an hour 
before, at the gate of Plantation-House, to the 
following effect : — " General Bonaparte wishes to 
see Captain Hall at two o'clock." The signal- 
man, knowing nothing of me, naturally conceived 
that I must be in James' Town, and repeated the 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 319 

signal to the Fort, sear the anchorage ; so that it 
was not until the message had been transmitted 
back again from the town to Plantation-House, 
that I knew anything of the matter. 

It was as much as I could now do to save my 
time, by galloping at the risk of my neck over the 
hills to Longwood, at the gate of which I found 
the other gentlemen, who had hurried from the 
ship on hearing of the sigrfal. The Countess Ber- 
trand, to whose house we were conducted, was un- 
affectedly delighted to hear the news. Her rooms 
were now all in order, the toothache gone, and 
every thing wore a more smiling aspect than on the 
day before. 

The Count informed us it was the Emperor's 
desire that I should be introduced first, alone, and 
my companions afterwards, together. As I had 
been told of his impatient manner to those who 
understood French imperfectly, I requested Gene- 
ral Bertrand to be present, in case I should happen 
not to understand what was said, or, from want of 
familiarity with the language, not be able to make 
myself understood. He assured me that there 
need be no difficulty on this head ; and observed, 
that I was quite mistaken in supposing the Empe- 
ror at all impatient on such occasions, since, on 
the contrary, he was extremely considerate, and 
always ready to make allowances. Thus reassured, 
I proceeded to an anteroom, where I waited for $ 
about ten minutes, till a servant announced, that 
his Majesty the Emperor was ready to receive me. 

On entering the room, I saw Bonaparte standing 
before the fire, with his head leaning on his hand, 
and his elbow resting on the chimney-piece. He 
looked up, and came forward two paces, returning 



>20 



INTERVIEW WITH BOX AP ARTE, 



my salutation with a careless sort of bow, or nod. 
His first question was, " What is your name? 5 " 
and, upon my answering, he said, " Ah, — Hall — I 
knew your father when I was at the Military Col- 
lege of Brienne — I remember him perfectly—he 
was fond of mathematics — he did not associate 
much with the younger part of the scholars, but ra- 
ther with the priests and professors, in another part 
of the town from that in which he lived." He then 
paused for an instant, and as he seemed to expect 
me to speak, I remarked that I had often heard my 
father mention the circumstance of his having 
been at Brienne during the period referred to ; but 
had never supposed it possible that a private indi- 
vidual could be remembered at such a distance of 
time, the interval of which had been filled with so 
many important events. " Oh no," exclaimed he, 
" it is not in the least surprising ; your father was 
the first Englishman I ever saw, and I have re- 
collected him all my life on that account." 

It may be right to mention here, that although 
the conversation was carried on entirely in French, 
I prefer reporting it in English, as I can be certain 
of conveying the correct meaning in a translation, 
while I could hardly pretend to give the precise 
words in the original language ; certainly not the 
exact turn of expression ; and a false conception 
might therefore be formed of what passed. The 
notes from which this account is drawn up, wero 
made within a few hours after leaving Longwood, 
before I slept, or was engaged in any other occu- 
pation. But in fact, the impression left upon my 
mind by the whole scene dwelt on my thoughts, 
to the exclusion of almost every thing else, for 
many days afterwards. 



ERVIEW WITH BONAPAKTE. 321 

In a few seconds after making this remark, Bo- 
naparte asked, with a playful expression of coun- 
tenance, as if amused with what he was saying, 
" Have you ever heard your father speak of me? 53 
I replied instantly, " Very often." Upon which he 
said, in a quick, sharp tone, " What does he say of 
me f 9 The manner in which this was spoken 
seemed to demand an immediate reply, and I said 
that I had often heard him express great admira- 
tion of the encouragement he had always given to 
science while he was Emperor of the French. He 
laughed and nodded repeatedly, as if gratified by 
what was said. 

His next question was, "Did you ever hear 
your father express any desire to see me ?" I re- 
plied that I had heard him often say there was no 
man alive so well worth seeing, and that he had 
strictly enjoined me to wait upon him if ever I 
should have an opportunity. " Very well," re- 
torted Bonaparte, " if he really considers me such 
a curiosity, and is so desirous to see me, why does 
he not come to St. Helena for that purpose ?" I 
was at first at a loss to know whether this question 
was put seriously or ironically ; hut as I saw him 
waiting for an answer, T said my father had too 
many occupations and duties to fix him at home. 
£t Has he any public duties ? Does he fill a public 
station ?" I told him, None of an official nature ; 
but that he was President of the Royal Society of 
Edinburgh, the duties of which claimed a good 
deal of his time and attention. This observation 
gave rise to a series of inquiries respecting the 
constitution of the Society in question. He made 
me describe the duties of all the office-bearers, 
from the president to the secretary, and the man- 




322 INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 

ner in which scientific papers were brought be- 
fore the society's notice : he seemed much struck, 
I thought, and rather amused, with the custom of 
discussing subjects publicly at the meetings in 
Edinburgh. When I told him the number of mem- 
bers was several hundreds, he shook his head, and 
said, " All these cannot surely be men of science!" 
When he had satisfied himself on this topic, he 
reverted to the subject of my father, and after 
seeming to make a calculation, observed, " Your 
father must, I think, be my senior by nine 
or ten years — at least nine — but I think ten. Tell 
me, is it not so ?" I answered, that he was very 
nearly correct. Upon which he laughed and turn- 
ed almost completely round on his heel, nodding 
his head several times. I did not presume to ask him 
where the joke lay, but imagined he was pleased 
with the correctness of his computation. He fol- 
lowed up his inquiries by begging to know what 
number of children my father had ; and did not 
quit this branch of the subject till he had obtained 
a correct list of the ages and occupation of the 
whole family. He then asked, " How long were 
you in France ?" and on my saying I had not yet 
visited that country, he desired to know where I 
had learned French. I said, from Frenchmen on 
board various ships of war. " Were you the pri- 
soner among the French," he asked, " or were 
they your prisoners ?" I told him my teachers 
were French officers captured by the ships I had 
served in. He then desired me to describe the 
details of the chase and capture of the ships we 
had made prize of; but soon seeing that this sub- 
ject afforded no point of any interest, he cut it 
short by asking me about the Lyra's voyage to the 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 323 

Eastern Seas, from which I was now returning. 
This topic proved a new and fertile source of in- 
terest, and he engaged in it, accordingly, with the 
most astonishing degree of eagerness. 

The opportunities which his elevated station had 
given Napoleon of obtaining information on almost 
every subject, and his vast power of rapid and 
correct observation, had rendered it a matter of so 
much difficulty to place before him anything totally 
new, that I considered myself fortunate in having 
something to speak of beyond the mere common 
places of a formal interview. Bonaparte has 
always been supposed to have taken a particular 
interest in Eastern affairs ; and from the avidity 
with which he seemed to devour the information I 
gave him about Loo-Choo, China, and the adja- 
cent countries, it was impossible to doubt the sin- 
cerity of his oriental predilections. A notion also 
prevails, if I am not mistaken, that his geographi- 
cal knowledge of those distant regions was rather 
loose — a charge which, by the way, Bonaparte 
probably shares with most people. I was, there- 
fore, not a little surprised to discover his ideas 
upon the relative situation of the countries in the 
China and Japan seas to be very distinct and pre- 
cise. On my naming the island of Loo-Choo to 
him, he shook his head as if he had never heard of 
it before, and made me tell him how it bore from 
Canton, and w T hat was the distance. He next 
asked its bearing with respect to Japan and Manil- 
la, by the intersection of which three lines, in his 
imagination, he appeared to have settled its posi- 
tion pretty accurately, since every observation he 
made afterwards appeared to imply a recollection 
of this particular point. For instance, when he 



-324 INTERVIEW WITn BONAPARTE. 



spoke of the probability of the manners and insti- 
tutions of the Loo-Chooans having been influenced 
by the interference of other countries, he drew 
correct inferences as far as geographical situation 
was concerned. Having settled where the island 
lay, be cross-questioned me about the inhabitants 
with a closeness— I may call it a severity of inves- 
tigation — which far exceeds every thing 1 have 
met with in any other instance. His questions 
were not by any means put at random, but each 
one had some definite reference to that which pre- 
ceded it or was about to follow. I felt in a short 
time so completely exposed to his view, that it 
would have been impossible to have concealed or 
qualified the smallest particular. Such, indeed, 
was the rapidity of his apprehension of the sub- 
jects which interested him, and the astonishing 
ease with which he arranged and generalized the 
few points of information I gave him, that he 
sometimes outstripped my narrative, saw the con- 
clusion I was coming to before I spoke it, and fairly 
robbed me of my story. 

Several circumstances, however, respecting the 
Loo-Choo people, surprised even him a good deal; 
and I had the satisfaction of seeing him more than 
once completely perplexed, and unable to account 
for the phenomena which I related. Nothing 
struck him so much as their having no arms. 
"Point d'armes!" he exclaimed, " c'est k dire 
point de cannons — ils ont des fusils ?" Not even 
muskets, I replied. " Eh bien done — des lances, 
ou, au moins, des arcs etdesfleches ?" I told him 
they had neither one nor other. u Ni poignards V' 
cried he, with increasing vehemence. No, none. 
"Mais!" said Bonaparte, clenching his fist, and 



INTERVIEW -WITH BONAPARTE. 



325 



raising his voice to a loud pitch, " Mais ! sans 
armes, comment se bat-on ?" 

I could only reply, that as far as we had been 
able to discover, they had never had any wars, but 
remained in a state of internal and external peace. 
• ; No wars!" cried he, with a scornful and incre- 
dulous expression, as if the existence of any peo- 
ple under the sun without wars was a monstrous 
anomaly. 

In like manner, but without being so much mo- 
ved, he seemed to discredit the account I gave him 
of their having no money, and of their setting no 
value upon our silver or gold coins. After hearing 
these facts stated, he mused for some time, mutter- 
ing to himself, in a low tone, " Not know the use 
of money — are careless about gold and silver." 
Then looking up, he asked, sharply, " How then 
did you contrive to pay these strangest of all peo- 
ple for the bullocks and other good things which 
they seem to have sent on board in such quantities ?" 
When I informed him that we could not prevail 
upon the people of Loo-Choo to receive payment 
of any kind, he expressed great surprise at their 
liberality, and made me repeat to him twice, the 
list of things with which we were supplied by these 
hospitable islanders. 

I had carried with me, at Count Bertrand's sug- 
gestion, some drawings of the scenery and costume 
of Loo-Choo and Corea, which I found of use in 
describing the inhabitants. When we were speak- 
ing of Corea, he took one of the drawings from me, 
and running his eye over the different parts, repeat- 
ed to himself, " An old man with a very large hat, 
and long white beard, ha! — along pipe in his hand 
~— a Chinese mat — a Chinese dress. — a man near 
28 



326 INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 

him writing — all very good, and distinctly drawn/ 
He then required me to tell him where the differ- 
ent parts of these dresses were manufactured, and 
what were the different prices — questions I could 
not answer. He wished to be informed as to the 
state of agriculture in Loo-Choo — whether they 
ploughed with horses or bullocks — how they mana- 
ged their crops, and whether or not their fields were 
irrigated like those in China, where, as he under- 
stood, the system of artificial watering was carried 
to a great extent. The climate, the aspect of the 
country, the structure of the houses and boats, the 
fashion of their dresses, even to the minutest parti 
cuiar in the formation of their straw sandals and 
tobacco pouches, occupied his attention. He ap- 
peared considerably amused at the pertinacity with 
which they kept their women out of our sight, but 
repeatedly expressed himself much pleased with 
Captain Maxwell's moderation and good sense, in 
forbearing to urge any point upon the natives, 
which was disagreeable to them, or contrary to the 
laws of their country. He asked many questions 
respecting the religion of China and Loo-Choo. 
and appeared well aware of the striking resem- 
blance between the appearance of the Catholic 
Priests and the Chinese Bonzes ; a resemblance 
which, as he remarked, extends to many parts of 
the religious ceremonies of both. Here, however, 
as he also observed, the comparison stops ; since 
the Bonzes of China exert no influence whatsoever 
over the minds of the people, and never interfere 
m their temporal or external concerns. In Loo= 
Choo, where every thing else is so praiseworthy, 
the low state of the priesthood is as remarkable as 
in the neighbouring continent, an anomaly which 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 327 

Bonaparte dwelt upon for some time without co- 
ming to any satisfactory explanation. 

With the exception of a momentary fit of scorn 
and incredulity when told that the Loo-Chooans 
had no wars or weapons of destruction, he was in 
high good humour while examining me on these 
topics. The cheerfulness, I may almost call it 
familiarity, with which he conversed, not only put 
me quite at ease in his presence, but made me re- 
peatedly forget that respectful attention with which 
it was my duty, as well as my wish on every ac- 
count, to treat the fallen monarch. The interest 
he took in topics which were then uppermost in 
my thoughts, was a natural source of fresh anima- 
tion in my own case ; and I was thrown off my 
guard, more than once, and unconsciously address- 
ed him with an unwarrantable degree of freedom. 
When, however, I perceived my error, and of 
course checked myself, he good-humouredly en- 
couraged me to go on in the same strain, in a 
manner so sincere and altogether so kindly, that I 
was in the next instant as much at my ease as 
before. 

" What do these Loo-Choo friends of yours 
know of other countries ?" he asked. I told him 
they were acquainted only with China and Japan. 
" Yes, yes," continued he ; " but of Europe ? 
What do they know of us VI I replied, " They 
know nothing of Europe at all ; they know nothing 
about France or England ; neither," I added, 
" have they ever heard of your Majesty." Bona- 
parte laughed heartily at this extraordinary parti- 
cular in the history of Loo-Choo, a circumstance, 
he may well have thought, which distinguished if; 
from every other corner of the known world. 



328 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 



I held in my hand a drawing of Sulphur Island, 
a solitary and desolate rock in the midst of the 
Japan sea. He looked at it for a moment, and 
cried out, u Why, this is St. Helena itself." YVhen 
he had satisfied himself about our voyage, or at 
least had extracted every thing I could tell him 
about it, he returned to the subject which had 
first occupied him, and said in an abrupt way, w Is 
your father an Edinburgh Reviewer ?" I answer- 
ed, that the names of the authors of that work 
were kept secret, but that some of my father's 
works had been criticised in the Journal alluded to. 
Upon which he turned half round on his heel to- 
wards Bertrand, and nodding several times, said, 
with a significant smile, fc * Ha ! ha !" as if to im- 
ply his perfect knowledge of the distinction be- 
tween author and critic. 

Bonaparte then said, 41 are you married ?" and 
upon my replying in the negative, continued, fcW Why 
not? What is the reason you don't marry?'' I 
was somewhat at a loss for a good answer, and 
remained silent. He repeated his question, how- 
ever, in such a way, that I was forced to say some- 
thing, and told him I had been too busy all my 
life ; besides which, I was not in circumstan- 
ces to marry. He did not seem to understand me, 
and again wished to know why I was a bachelor. 
I told him I was too poor a man to marry. " Aha!" 
he cried, u I now see — want of money — no money 
— yes, yes !" and laughed heartily : in which I 
joined, of course, though, to say the truth, I did 
not altogether see the humorous point of the joke. 

The last question he put related to the size and 
force of the vessel I commanded, and then he said, 
in a tone of authority, as if he had some influence 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE. 329 

in the matter, " You will reach England in thirty- 
five days," — a prophecy, by the by, which failed 
miserably in the accomplishment, as we took sixty- 
two days, and were nearly starved into the bargain. 
After this remark he paused for about a quarter 
of a minute, and then making me a slight inclina- 
tion of his head, wished me a good voyage, and 
stepping back a couple of paces, allowed me to 
retire. ! 

My friends, Mr. Clifford and Mr. Harvey, were 
now presented to him. He put some civil com- 
monplace questions, and after an audience of a few 
minutes, dismissed them. 

Bonaparte struck me as differing considerably 
from the pictures and busts I had seen of him. 
His face and figure looked much broader and 
more square, larger, indeed, in every way, than 
any representation I had met with. His corpu- 
lency, at this time universally reported to be ex- 
cessive, was by no means remarkable. His flesh 
looked, on the contrary, firm and muscular. There 
was not the least trace of colour in his cheeks ; in 
fact, his skin was more like marble than ordinary 
flesh. Not the smallest trace of a wrinkle was dis- 
cernible on his brow, nor an approach to a furrow 
on any part of his countenance His health and 
spirits, judging from appearances, were excellent ; 
though at this period it was generally believed 
in England, that he was fast sinking under a 
complication of diseases, and that his spirits were 
entirely gone. His manner of speaking was rather 
slow than otherwise, and perfectly distinct : he 
waited with great patience and kindness for my 
answers to his questions, and a reference to Count 
Bertram! was necessary only once during the 



330 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE* 



whole conversation. The brilliant and sometimes 
dazzling expression of his eye could not be over- 
looked. It was not, however, a permanent lustre, 
for it was only remarkable when he was excited by 
some point of particular interest. It is impossible 
to imagine an expression of more entire mildness, I 
may almost call it of benignity and kindliness, than 
that which played over his features during the whole 
interview. If, therefore, he were at this time out of 
health and in low spirits, his power of self-command 
must have been even more extraordinary than is 
generally supposed ; for his whole deportmentvhis 
conversation, and the expression of his counte- 
nance, indicated a frame in perfect health and a 
mind at ease* 



We sailed next morning from St. Helena, and 
reached England in the middle of October, 1817, 
after an absence of twenty months. In that brief 
interval we had traversed a distance of nearly forty- 
two thousand miles, or little short of twice the 
circuit of the globe, having visited great part of 
the coast of China, many islands of the Eastern 
Archipelago and Japan seas, several of the princi- 
pal stations on the continent and islands of India, 
and twice round the Cape of Good Hope. 

The peculiar interest of this voyage, however, 
arose less from the extent than from the great va- 
riety of its range, which not only included both 
hemispheres, and every description of climate and 
scenery, but brought us, in rapid succession, into 
close contact with many of the most remarkable 
nations of the earth. Some of these countries were 



INTERVIEW WITH BONAPARTE . 331 

well known before ; yet they were scarcely on that 
account less interesting : while others had remain- 
ed almost entirely unknown previous to our visit. 

The busy nature of the voyage, while it abridged 
our means of careful, or rather of minute observa- 
tion, afforded excellent opportunities of comparison 
between place and place, while the image of each 
was still fresh in the memory. And although only 
a small part of our adventures has been here de- 
scribed, enough, perhaps, has been told to justify 
the reflection which the whole, taken together, left 
upon our minds at the conclusion ; that however 
remarkably nature may be diversified in external 
aspect, it is still more essentially distinguished, by 
the variety of human character and institutions. 



